Batavia’s west side water supply will soon be disinfected with an older method that officials say is safer than one used for the last 14 years.
Water from the west side wells will be treated with chloramines, a combination of chlorine and ammonia, instead of with chlorine alone, said Water Supt. John Dillon. The city has used chloramines to treat water from wells east of the Fox River for at least the last 50 years, but switched to chlorine on the west side after digging shallow aquifer wells in 1992. “The filter systems we used for those wells required free chlorine, so that’s why we switched,” Dillon explained.
More Top Picks Best Premium Rowing Machine Accessories
As the city wraps up a three-year revamp of its century-old water and sewer system, water pumped from all wells will be treated at one facility, ending the need for two filtering systems. The new treatment plant also will remove unsafe levels of radium from the water, bringing the city into compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards.
While most residents will be unaffected by the change, west side residents who keep tropical fish or use home dialysis equipment will still have to remove chloramines from the water they put into their aquariums or their dialysis machines, Dillon warned. Chloramines and chlorine are both poisonous when introduced directly into animal and human bloodstreams, he said.
The switch to chloramines is scheduled to take place in mid-July.