The Oswego Village Board recently authorized an agreement with Naperville-based civil engineering firm Baxter & Woodman to develop plans and specifications for a future contract for a corrosion control study for Oswego, Montgomery and Yorkville as part of the process of switching to Lake Michigan water.
Baxter & Woodman will not be performing the study itself, Oswego officials said.
Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery decided in mid-December 2021 to change from relying on well water to Lake Michigan water via a connection through the DuPage Water Commission. The Illinois State Water Survey has used projections showing the region could run out of ground water from the aquifer it currently uses in the next 20 to 40 years.
The corrosion control study is crucial for public water safety, Oswego Public Works Director Jennifer Hughes said.
“Before we switch water source, we need to test our existing pipes to determine capability with the new water. The system can be engineered to address any incompatibilities so that the existing pipes do not corrode due to the new water,” Hughes said. “It is a necessary step to make sure we do not have a Flint, Michigan, situation in Oswego.”
A corrosion control study was not done in Flint when the community changed its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River, Hughes said.
“Failure to treat the water differently resulted in lead leaching into the water supply,” she said.
The local corrosion control study would involve cutting out sections of existing water mains from the ground and running Lake Michigan water through the pipes to determine if the new water has any impact on the pipes, Hughes said.
A treatment program would be established to mitigate any potential impact if necessary, she said.
The study requires the work to be done by a company specializing in this type of analysis, Hughes said.
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As part of the recently authorized agreement, Baxter & Woodman will also be managing a $1.8 million grant on behalf of the three local communities which will pay for the corrosion control study. The company will assist in negotiating a grant agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency. The future corrosion control study will be bid after the grant agreement is approved.
The local municipalities involved received a $1.8 million Environmental Protection Agency Community Matching Grant for the study. The grant has a 20% local match requirement. The $450,000 local match would be shared by Montgomery, Oswego and Yorkville, officials said.
“While everyone knows the chemical composition of water is H20, the reality is that each water source has other minerals and chemicals that are part of the water profile,” Hughes said.
Water from the deep aquifer Oswego uses now is hard water due to the high concentration of dissolved minerals, she said.
She said while Oswego’s water is very hard, Lake Michigan water is much softer “although it still borders on the moderately hard to hard classification.”
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.