More hydrants may help Johnsburg water quality concerns

Water quality complaints plaguing an aging water system in Johnsburg could be helped with two hydrant flushing ports at dead ends, Prairie Path Water Co. officials said.

The company also plans to replace another six hydrants over the next two weeks to help keep water fresh, said Justin Kersey, Prairie Path’s president.

Some Johnsburg residents have complained about discolored and smelly water from Prairie Path for several years. Although the water has been deemed safe to drink by health officials, complaints late last spring led to a meeting of residents, village officials and utility officials in early June.

The new hydrants would “help with water age/water quality on some of our dead-end mains,” Kersey said in an email.

The new hydrant ports, placed at water mains that dead end instead of looping to prevent stagnant water, will allow workers to flush water from those areas, he said.

“These particular locations were chosen based on feedback from customers,” Kersey said.

A third new hydrant also will be placed at a location not yet determined to address the dead-end issue, he said.

He credited “relatively new” operations manager Kyle Woodworth with creating a plan to improve water quality while the company waits on a water age study that started in April.

Woodworth, Kersey said, “quickly familiarized himself with the territory and developed a plan.”

The hydrant work comes on the heels of a water main replacement project. That work is on time or ahead of schedule, Kersey said.

Since early September, water mains were replaced on potions of Brorson Lane, Sudeenew Drive, Channel Beach Avenue, Riverview Drive and Lakeview Street.

The Brorson and Sudeenew portions are complete, and the contractor is moving to tie water services to the new mains on Sunset, Channel Beach and Lakeview by Monday, Kersey said.

“We will begin work on site restoration – asphalt and seeding – within the next two weeks,” he said.

The water age study should be finished by the end of 2022. The company hopes to use that study to determine how the overall system can be rebuilt.

In the interim, engineers suggested ways to improve water quality, Kersey said.

“The engineers are reviewing a revised flushing route, which looks like it will be different than our current flushing route, which should help with water quality concerns,” he said.