PEORIA, Ill. – Some residents in Peoria Heights are dealing with tap water that just doesn’t look or smell right. They say it’s discolored, smells like chlorine and they’re worried it may not be safe to drink.
Amanda Beyer, who’s lived in Peoria Heights for five years, says water coming out of her sink’s faucet, shower head, washing machine, and toilet bowl occasionally is a dark, muddy brown color.
“If it is not brown water, then the smell of the chlorine will burn your eyes. I don’t even feel safe drinking it, let alone feeding it to my pets,” Beyer says.
The Superintendent of Peoria Heights Public Works, Chris Chandler, in a letter to 25 News, says the village is in the middle of its semi-annual hydrant flushing program, which causes the tap water to turn shades of brown.
Chandler says flushing the system stirs up natural minerals that settle in the water mains, but the purpose of the program is to get them out.
Chandler’s answer isn’t cutting it for some residents.
“Giving your kids a bath and you fill-up the bathtub, and it looks like iced tea is not good,” said Peoria Heights resident Michael Casey. “Flushing hydrants, and things like that, water main breaks, everybody understands that, but for this to go on and on, you can’t say it’s in the pipes of your house.”
As for the chlorine smell, Chandler says the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency requires drinking water to be treated with chlorine. He adds the water is maintained and tested each day, so it’s safe for consumption.
But Beyer says brown water stained her tub, ruined cups, and discolored her clothes.
“I ship in three five-gallon jugs of water; those are strictly for the animals, and then my kids and I go through bottles of water like you wouldn’t believe,” Beyer says. “I can’t tell you the hundreds of dollars I’ve spent on clothes that I’ve never been able to wear because they get ruined in a washing machine just from the water stains.”
Peoria Heights’ water bill includes a $15 infrastructure fee. Chandler says the fee is used for water main replacements, valve replacements, additions, or well rehabilitation.
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