Aqua Illinois being sued for Lead Contamination in University Park Water

– Aqua Illinois provides water to a number of communities including the 7,000 strong Village of University Park but on Friday they were sued because of lead contamination in that water. The lead isn’t news to them as Aqua actually let the state know in May that after they switched from groundwater to the Kankakee river, their testing detected high levels of lead. They’ve been trying to provide bottles of water to impacted residents, however it seems the state has grown tired of their inaction. Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul and Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow filed the lawsuit seeking an injunction to require Aqua Illinois to fix the situation. The suit explains that the switch to the Kankakee river also caused the addition of a chemical that removed a protective layer in people’s plumbing, resulting in increased lead. Aqua Illinois says this issue only affects homes serviced before 1990, although who knows how that reassurance went over with annoyed residents. Although it’s not unique for a giant water corporation to supply a communities’ water, one has to wonder if these situations stem partly from that fact.


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