Joliet tests its water options

The city of Joliet last week collected its third round of samples from the Kankakee and Illinois rivers, testing what Joliet may use as the source of city water in the future.

Lake Michigan water also is being tested with the idea of putting the results side by side before the city makes a decision on which of the three will provide the water that Joliet residents get out of their faucets.

City officials have set a December deadline for a decision and plan to bring a new source of water to Joliet by 2030.

Whatever the choice, it will be the first new source of water since the city began drawing from deep wells in 1907.

The city is testing for 350 minerals, chemical and organic compounds in the process.

Many of those will be found, but at safe levels, said Nick Gornick, superintendent of water plant operations for Joliet.

“There are acceptable allowances,” Gornick said, adding no water source is going to be pure H2O.

Gornick talked about water last week on a pontoon boat as he collected samples from the Kankakee River at a spot near Wilmington. A pump brought up water through a hose, and Gornick filled assorted bottles, jars and vials that were labeled to be sent to laboratories for testing.

“The reason we use this little pump is you don’t want to sample what’s on the top of the river but what’s in the middle and the bottom, which is where you’ll put your intake,” he said.

The city owns land in Wilmington, which was bought in the 1990s when Joliet last considered switching from the well water to river water.

This time, with forecasts calling for the city’s deep wells to become depleted to the point that they no longer are reliable by 2030, Joliet is committed to making a switch.

Presentations on the city’s options will be made at 5 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall at a combined public meeting of the City Council and Environmental Commission.

“There will be representatives from water suppliers to answer questions and staff to answer questions,” Joliet Public Utilities Director Allison Swisher said.

Gornick, while on the river last week, also would test water on the Illinois River at a point near where the river is formed by the confluence of the Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers. He also would test the Illinois farther downstream in Marseilles.

The city is testing at spots near potential intakes. The sites for the testing have been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, which, Gornick said, “wants to know where you’re pulling the water and what’s in there.”

Gornick also is pulling samples from the Des Plaines River in Joliet, even though the river has been ruled out as a water source, to see how the river influences water in the Illinois River.

Results are expected by October.