Aqua water alert remains in effect

KANKAKEE – An alert regarding Aqua Illinois drinking water for infants age 6 months and younger or pregnant women remains in effect, the company said Tuesday.

The company is dealing with a rare situation in which nitrates – which are found in farmland and lawns from springtime fertilizers – have been washed into the area drinking water supply from the Kankakee River.

The nitrates made it into the river due to recent significant rains. The water runoff eventually makes it into the Iroquois and Kankakee rivers which converge and supply the Aqua Illinois water plant in east Kankakee.

Nitrate levels need to be below a 10 milligram per liter level, Aqua Illinois President Dave Carter said.

Carter said as of Tuesday, the nitrate level has dropped, but the restriction remains in effect. He was unsure when the restriction could be lifted as it depends on potential rain.

“We continue to monitor nitrate levels closely, and we will notify our customers when the drinking water alert is lifted,” the company said in an email response to The Daily Journal.

The restriction went into effect Saturday.

The restriction includes Aqua customers served by the Kankakee, Peotone and University Park systems. Aqua also said boiling water does not reduce the nitrate level. In fact, excessive boiling can worsen elevated nitrate levels.

Infants under 6 months of age could experience shortness of breath and blue color on their skin from consumption of water with high levels of nitrates.

If these conditions are noticed, immediate medical attention should be sought.

Company officials said children older than 6 months and adults can consume the drinking water.

Aqua is providing bottled water for families with infants under 6 months old until it can lift the alert. The nitrate levels leading to this event were unprecedented, Carter said.

For those with infants 6 months in age or younger, bottled water is available at 1000 S. Schuyler Ave. in Kankakee, which is the Aqua Illinois office, from noon to 7 p.m.

Bottled water is also available at 1737 E. Amberstone Road, Manteno, and at 24650 S. Western Ave., University Park.

Aqua serves 37,000 connections, or about 111,000 customers, through its Kankakee-based plant.