University Park Mayor Presents Demands Of Aqua Illinois After Dangerous Drinking Water Conditions Continue For Hundreds
UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- The mayor of University Park says he has had it with Aqua Illinois, the company that supplies the village's water, after dealing with dangerous drinking water for more than a year. He is demanding Aqua Illinois get the lead out now.
In 2019 Aqua Illinois found high levels of lead in some of the town's water. University Park officials say they thought the situation would be fixed after a few weeks, but hundreds of residents say the water in their homes is still unsafe to drink.
Saturday the mayor shared some demands he is presenting to Aqua, including replacing faulty pipes, an endowment fund to address potential medical problems from lead exposure, and reparations for the 1,500 homeowners who still can't drink their water.
Aqua said it "has restored high water quality to 89% of regularly sampled homes," saying the water is "OK to drink" if homeowners run a cold tap for two to three minutes through a filter certified to remove lead, which they have provided to thousands of homes.