Aqua lifts drinking water advisory

KANKAKEE – Aqua Illinois said Friday the drinking water advisory issued June 7, for infants under the age of 6, has been lifted.

The advisory included Aqua customers served by the Kankakee, Peotone and University Park systems.

Aqua said customers served by the Kankakee, Peotone and University Park systems could resume use of their drinking water after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency said its monitoring location is below the required level.

Internal data showed all other monitoring locations are also under the nitrate limit.

No more bottle water will be distributed, Aqua Illinois said.

This past weekend, Aqua Illinois warned residents the drinking water had been contaminated due to high nitrate levels and shouldn’t be consumed by infants under six months.

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, according to Aqua officials.

Nitrate levels need to be below a 10 milligram per liter level, they said.

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