In a social media post today, some Mahomet residents who receive their water from the Sangamon Valley Water District (north of I-74 and east of IL-47) voiced their concerns about the quality of water they receive from the system.
“…It’s been awful the last few months. It’s extremely hard and we have had sediment, leaves and other slime coming out of our spigots,” one customer wrote.
The customer was concerned about the amount of Calcium Carbonate in the water. She wrote the guideline for Calcium Carbonate in tap water is 80ppm, but when testing with an at-home system, she found levels were near 425ppm.
Sangamon Valley Water District has been aware of the hard water issue for a few months. On July 3, SVWPD posted the following statement on their website. “The new softening system at our water treatment plant is not working properly. This has caused a temporary hard water aesthetic issue for which we apologize. Please be aware that this is not a health or safety issue. The District is doing its due diligence to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Again, we apologize for the hard water and appreciate your patience.”
Chairman of the SVWPD Board of Trustees Meghan Hennessy said SVWPD has worked with the necessary vendors to get the necessary specialized pumps manufactured for months.
“This is our top priority right now,” she said. “We are all aware of the hardness, but there are no health concerns. The water is very clean.”
Hennessy said all of the iron has been completely filtered out of the water. She explained that hardness of water will result in spots on dishes and customers may notice a change how their hair feels after watching it, but slime and sediments are not a result of hard water. She advised that if customers are seeing anything in their water or from their faucets, they should contact SVWPD to have the issue inspected.
All SVWPD board members are also customers of the Sangamon Valley Water Preserve District, and are feeling the effects of hard water in their homes. But Hennessy stressed that “public safety is our number one concern. We would never distribute water that is not safe for consumption.”
