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City chose facility over lake water.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Harry Hitzeman Daily Herald Staff Writer

You probably won't need to buy a water filter for your loved ones in West Chicago this holiday season.

By early January, residents should have softer water that's as clean as what surrounding towns get from their taps.

Only unlike virtually all other area communities, West Chicagoans won't be drawing their hydration from Lake Michigan.

A holdout while neighboring towns joined forces to bring lake water to the region, West Chicago has now cemented that decision by constructing a new water treatment plant - believed to be the city's largest public works project ever.

The city has until the end of the year to complete the $18 million water plant and meet a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deadline to lower levels of radium. The water will also be softer with less iron, which causes rust stains.

West Chicagoans "will get the same quality of water as those who drink from Lake Michigan, at a significantly lower cost," said City Administrator Michael Guttman.

The plant is part of a $30 million citywide water system overhaul that includes an assortment of new water mains.

All of it, city officials said, will mean cleaner water for residents. Most significantly, the treated water will be within new federal standards for radium, which occurs naturally in water pumped from wells more than 700 feet deep.

Long-term exposure has been linked to an increased risk...

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