Attempts to wash dishes, clothes and hair have left some Western Spring residents frustrated over water quality while the village repairs pipes to one of its two deep wells.
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“It’s absolutely gotten worse in the last couple of weeks,” said Julie Suarez, a resident for 26 years. “My dishwasher has been clouding up like everybody else is saying. My skin is different and my hair is different.”
Suarez said her husband installed a water filter in the past week after the water looked and tasted bad. She said she doesn’t drink the water at a church where she works, because it’s yellow.
“I was at a party, and we were all dumbfounded how this could be happening again in one of the best places to live in Illinois,” she said.
Suarez referred to the period while the village was bringing online a new reverse osmosis system to treat water from deep wells, completed in August 2014. Some residents had complained about water quality, including damage to appliances.
In early October, village officials notified residents through automated phone calls the water system needed to undergo repairs, and the major deep well would be offline. A sprinkling ban went into effect Oct. 21 to curb water use, because fall has been drier and warmer than normal.
Matt Supert, director of municipal services, said repairs are anticipated to be completed by Nov. 13. Supert said he’s awaiting repair updates from the contractor.
“The water is safe to drink and does meet all state and federal safety standards,” he said. “The biggest issue is the discoloration, which understandably can cause some hesitation.”
Supert said the decision about whether to drink the water is up to residents, “but I drink the water at Village Hall on a daily basis.”
On the village’s website, Supert explained that the village needs to operate two of its three wells to meet demand for 1.6 million gallons per day. While one of the deep wells is offline, water from a shallow well can’t be treated in the reverse osmosis system, so residents are receiving water with more mineral content, according to the website.
The sprinkling ban is meant to decrease demand so less water from the shallow well is needed, the website said.
Supert said he’s had numerous calls and e-mails on the issue and he plans to take questions at the Village Board meeting at 7 p.m. Monday Oct. 26 at Village Hall, 740 Hillgrove Ave.
Nearly 300 resident have signed an online petition at www.change.org demanding a solution to the “ongoing well water problem.” Signers asked to waive the cost of water bills for the third quarter and have the village pay for private laboratory to test water quality.
The water situation has definitely increased demand for Lemi Shine, a hard water detergent booster, said Laura Maciejewski, an employee at Village True Value Hardware in Western Springs.
“We still sold it periodically as a cleaner for dishwashers, but now every third customer is asking for it,” Maciejewski said. “We’ve also had a bit of a run on water softener salt.”
Julie Kemnitz, an 11-year resident of Western Springs, who bought some of the product, said she’s looking into buying a water softening system for her home. Poor water quality in 2014 forced her to replace her dishwasher and refrigerator, she said.
But Sue Jacob, a resident since 1985, said she has a water filter and hasn’t noticed major differences in water quality since repairs have begun. She has seen hard water stains, but hasn’t had issues with appliances breaking, she said.
“The village was pretty up front getting the message out,” Jacob said. “They called and told us with the emergency phone system.”
Ann Hoffman said she hasn’t noticed the water turning yellow in the Springdale subdivision where she has lived for 10 years.
“It seems OK,” she said.
But Pamela Kenny said she is concerned about the water’s effect on her family.
“I was giving my 3-year-old a bath Tuesday night Oct. 20 and noticed the tub was filling with yellow water,” Kenny said. “Also my dishes in our 2-month-old dishwasher have had a white film on them. “
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Kenny said she is concerned about health issues as well as erosion to pipes.
We live in one of the best suburbs in Chicago, and our water stinks,” she said. “Why can’t we have city water like our surrounding communities.”
Twitter: @janemichaels22