After months of Bethalto residents dealing with brown water, tests by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency show the drinking water is safe.
Three rounds of testing by the IEPA over the past few weeks found the drinking water in the Metro East community “meets all state and federal water quality standards,” according to a letter and subsequent results from the state agency.
The early September letter addressed to state Rep. Amy Elik, R-Godfrey, and the latest results come as Bethalto residents have complained for months, or in some cases years, of brown water coming from their faucets and independent tests by concerned residents found elevated levels of manganese.
“No exceedances have been found for manganese or any other parameters tested, including lead, copper, iron and coliform,” the letter, which was sent Sept. 4, states. “IEPA will continue monitoring previously tested locations and welcomes any additional information about additional residences of concern.”
While residents see the state agency’s results as a sign that temporary progress has been made thanks to increased public scrutiny, they would like to keep the momentum going and solve the underlying issues that have plagued their town of 9,000.
“We figured that they would be good once the IEPA got involved and they got wind that we had done all of this,” resident Amie Flatt said. “They did it. They overcorrected or did something real quick to figure it out. The problem is: Why couldn't they have done that before it had to affect everyone?”
In three rounds of evaluations in which two tests were taken at 11 locations per round throughout Bethalto, the Illinois EPA found levels of manganese ranging from 15.4 to 80.2 micrograms per liter at a handful of spots. Most tests did not detect any manganese, according to the results provided by Elik.
The state’s maximum level allowed in drinking water stands at 150 micrograms per liter, according to IEPA’s drinking water standards. This means all sat below the state’s standards.
IEPA tested drinking water at the sites, including public schools, a Lutheran church, the village’s treatment plant and a handful of homes, on Aug. 28, Sept. 3 and Sept. 11. Bethalto’s water system also serves parts of the surrounding communities of Cottage Hills, Rosewood Heights and East Alton in Madison County.
The contents of the first round of testing and the IEPA letter were first reported by First Alert 4.
IEPA has not responded to repeated requests for comment regarding the agency’s tests as of Wednesday afternoon.
Over the past 30 days, Bethalto has been flushing out old pipes throughout the entire system, installing automatic flushers in areas hit hardest and responding to residents with on-site flushing, according to village Mayor Gary Bost.
The village also replaced two of its nine water filters at its water treatment plant.
“Water safety is not negotiable,” Bost said in a statement this week. “The IEPA has assured us that, even during the time prior to taking the filters offline, Bethalto’s water supply remained safe. That said, we recognize the frustration residents have experienced with discoloration and inconsistency, and we are addressing those issues head-on.”
The cause of the underlying problem that’s led to discolored water is a combination of deteriorating cast iron water mains and manganese that’s present in raw well water, Bost said.
Elik, along with Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, had requested the testing from IEPA after meeting with the residents.
“I absolutely would be losing my mind if I had brown water,” Elik said.
While she finds the state results to be encouraging, there is more to be done, Elik said.
“I feel that the village has taken a lot of steps to try to solve short-term problems, but also work long term,” she said. “Again, that may not be a lot of comfort for some people that still have brown water.”
These results run counter to others conducted by a group of residents, called the Committee for Clean Water Board, that includes Flatt. Taken over the summer, the group’s results found levels as high as 7.48 milligrams per liter of manganese — or 7,480 micrograms per liter.
Flatt believes that the discrepancy can be explained by the village’s attempts to fix the problems by replacing the filters and routine flushing over the last month. After a Facebook group has accumulated more than 1,000 members and public scrutiny at village board meetings in July and August, she feels the village has responded better to their concerns.
“It seems like it took really going above and beyond,” she said.
Some residents who have dealt with discolored water in the past are now noticing a chemical smell in their water.
“It’s like they’re drinking pool water,” Flatt said.
Flatt and her husband were able to install a water filtration system at their home, but she doesn’t know if that will be affordable for everyone in the area. Down the line, Flatt said the community group will keep pressing for the village for answers.
Prior to the school year starting, Bethalto’s public school district opted to use bottled water instead of the drinking water. The school district confirmed it was still using bottled water, but Superintendent Jill Griffin said the district plans to discuss the topic at its Monday school board meeting.
Bost believes there are a handful of longer-term projects that are needed to eliminate the brown water problems — like replacing nearly 12,000 feet of aging water lines, applying for various grants to accelerate that work and hiring dive teams to inspect and clean water holding tanks.
The mayor also said the village will publish quarterly IEPA water quality testing results on its website and implement a formal notification system for all locations used as sample sites to notify residents.
“We know this has been disruptive, and we want our residents to know we are listening and acting,” Bost said. “Our priority is delivering clear, reliable, high-quality water.”
