Here’s what you should know about chlorine in Sycamore water

SYCAMORE – A new chlorine scrubbing device will be installed at Sycamore Well 7, a regular mandate by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Sycamore officials recently said.

IEPA officials also told Shaw Local News Network the agency isn’t concerned about chlorine levels in Sycamore’s water.

“Earlier the City Council approved installation of new radium treatment equipment for Well No. 7,” City Manager Michael Hall said during a May City Council meeting. “Part of the process of seeking approval for the new radium equipment with the IEPA, they are now requiring the city to install a chlorine scrubber along with this, as part of the project.”

In July 2023, the Sycamore City Council approved a $4.78 million contract with Fox Lake-based Manusos General Contracting Inc. for radium treatment improvements in Well 7.

It will cost Sycamore an additional $139,373 to have the state mandated equipment installed through Manusos, according to city documents.

“The installation of a chlorine scrubber is an IEPA requirement, however it was not originally required when the Well 7 Radium Removal Improvements Project was designed and approved to go to bid. Since it was a late addition it was not included within the scope and bid, resulting in this this [SIC] Change Order. A chlorine scrubber is designed to prevent any release of chlorine gas from the facility,” Sycamore Public Works Director Matt Anderson wrote in an April 30 letter to Hall.

“The amount of chlorine in the Sycamore community water supply (CWS) meets the minimum requirements. [...] Illinois EPA is not concerned with the amount of chlorine in the Sycamore CWS.”

—  Kim Biggs

Anderson wrote final completion of the Well 7 radium treatment improvement project was slated for Sept. 11, 2024, but with the addition of the chlorine scrubber, work is not expected to be completed until Nov. 20.

“So they required us to do that but they didn’t help fund it at all,” Sycamore Mayor Steve Braser said last month.

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Public Information Officer Kim Biggs believes Sycamore isn’t being treated differently to other city’s installing similar equipment.

“The Illinois EPA requires this safety equipment on all new installations of chlorine gas feed equipment,” Biggs wrote in an email to the Daily Chronicle last month.

Here’s what latest chlorine results show

Chlorine level testing in city water has been a concern voiced by area residents in the past.

Sycamore officials share monthly operating reports of the water division of the city’s Public Works, with the IEPA and the public.

Lead is not found in the city’s source ground water, according to city documents. The city has used state funding to subsidize the replacement of lead water service lines connected to city water mains at no cost to property owners, however.

In March, officials said they’d finished completing an inventory of the materials used for water service lines connected to the city’s public works – an effort that was done in tandem to the city’s lead water service line replacement program – and found 69 lead water service lines were connected to Sycamore’s water system.

Sycamore introduces phosphate, for a corrosion control treatment, as well as chlorine and fluoride into the water at individual well sites, according to city documents.

Anderson sends monthly operating reports to the IEPA, showing the amount of ground water pumped from a well, and how much chlorine, fluoride and phosphate are mixed in.

On April 17, Sycamore water division pumped 2.5 million gallons from its wells and blended 100 pounds of chlorine, 28 pounds of fluoride and 107 pounds of phosphate into the new water, according to city documents.

According to that data, 4.8 parts per million of what was added into Sycamore Public Works system was chlorine, but Biggs said the water is in compliance with the agency’s standards.

No water sample taken for independent chlorine testing in 2023 had a result of more than 1.7 parts per million of total chlorine, according to city documents. Data collected in April show 1.43 parts per million of total chlorine was the highest result of residual chlorine in the water system, according to city documents.

Anderson said the distribution of residual chlorine is what’s tested to determine the chemical content of drinking water, and Biggs wrote that chlorine can oxidize in water systems. This means that test results from tap water may not show the same levels of chlorine as what was pumped in, since what was calculated doesn’t account for the chemical’s oxidation in the water system.

“These calculations determine by math what the chemical concentrations should be in the water based on the amount of water treated and the amount of chemical added. In the case of chlorine, the calculated dose may not equal the actual tested residual chlorine concentration, which is chlorine that remains in the distribution system. This is due to chlorine demand, which is the amount of chlorine that is used up by oxidizing inorganic material, such as minerals, which naturally occur in the water,” Biggs wrote.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers water with up to 4 parts per million of chlorine safe for drinking, as does the IEPA. The distribution of chlorine residuals in Sycamore’s public works was firmly under the maximum levels that are OK for human consumption, per the CDC and IEPA, according city documents.

In the fall 2020, residents said they wanted to bring awareness to city officials that discolored, foul-smelling water comes out of their homes’ taps and they refuse to use it. Those complaints soon turned into a larger fear that high levels of toxic lead, which can cause severe health problems, was prevalent in city water.

In 2023, the city of Sycamore agreed to settle a $6 million class action lawsuit filed by area residents in 2020 alleging the city’s negligence in maintaining water quality, steering millions toward infrastructure and increased water testing, records show.

The settlement did not find the city of Sycamore liable for any wrongdoing, and the city has maintained that Sycamore water is safe to drink. The city will be required to pay an average of $1.2 million toward water quality improvements, however, and also pay for additional testing of lead and chlorine levels, according to the settlement agreement reached out of court last year.

Biggs wrote the IEPA has no issue with how much chlorine is in the Sycamore water system.

“The amount of chlorine in the Sycamore community water supply (CWS) meets the minimum requirements and is below the 4 ppm MRDL [maximum residual disinfectant level]. Compliance with the MRDL is based on the average of the reported chlorine residual test results taken during the collection of monthly distribution coliform samples. Illinois EPA is not concerned with the amount of chlorine in the Sycamore CWS.”