Kankakee County’s water supply has not changed.

It remains the Kankakee River.

However, the company that will manage, operate and supply area customers will soon change if all goes as planned.

The merger of American Water Works and Essential Utilities Inc., in which Aqua America operates, is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027.

American Water Works, a Camden, N.J.-based company, is heading the merger and will operate under the name American Water and will have an enterprise value of $63 billion.

Essential Utilities is based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where it operates as Aqua America and Peoples Natural Gas. When the merger is completed, the company will call Camden home.

The deal must clear public utility commissions in at least seven states, including Illinois, as well as shareholder approvals and federal antitrust clearances, according to published reports.

American Water is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States.

With a history dating back to 1886, the company provides drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people with regulated operations in 14 states and 18 military installations.

In addition to Illinois, American Water serves customers in Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Hawaii, Georgia and California.

The company has a workforce of some 6,700. Essential Utilities served about 5.5 million customers in nine states, including Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New Jersey, Texas and Pennsylvania.

When asked how long Aqua Illinois leadership was involved in the merger discussions, spokesman Patrick Wenger said that detail will be made available when the companies file their proxy materials in the coming weeks.

“It’s important to note that operations will continue normally until the transaction closes,” Wenger said in regard to a question about the fate of the South Schuyler Avenue office in Kankakee.

The Kankakee office has a workforce of about 40.

He added that the Aqua Illinois name will continue to be used until the merger’s closing.

Aqua Illinois replaced Consumers Illinois as the drinking water source in Kankakee County in March 2004.

Essential Utilities stated there would be no change in customer rates.

The company “will be better able to maintain an average customer water bill that is affordable, supporting the economic prosperity of the more than 2,000 communities in which the combined company will operate,” Essential Utilities officials said.

Aqua Illinois serves approximately 280,000 people across 14 counties in Illinois, including Kankakee, Will, DuPage, DeKalb, Kane, Lake, Winnebago, McHenry, Vermillion, Ogle, Knox, Cook, Champaign and Boone.

Within Kankakee County, Aqua serves 37,000 connections, or about 111,000 customers, through its Kankakee-based plant. In addition to Kankakee, Aqua serves Bourbonnais, Manteno, Grant Park, Aroma Park and Limestone

In Illinois, American Water provides water and/or wastewater services to 1.3 million residents.