Glen Carbon Water Supply Changeover Process Moves To Next Step
By Charlie Feldman
cfeldman@timestribunenews.com
An update on the changeover to a different water supplier was the main order of business at the Tuesday, March 22 Glen Carbon Village Board meeting.
Since 2019, the village has been working to switch wholesale water providers from the city of Edwardsville to that of Illinois American Water.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has required two kinds of water batch testing over the past two years. The final sampling is scheduled on Tuesday, April 6. Construction on the building to house the new water meter began the week of March 22. After the sample results are released, a three-month batch testing memo will be submitted to the IEPA on April 16 and results discussed with them by phone the week of April 19 to find out what additional testing may be needed and to establish a timeline for the final stages of the process.
“Pending what the results are, we anticipate that building will be complete that last week of April,” said Joseph P. Ahlvin, senior operations manager of Illinois American Water’s southern division.
The interconnection is anticipated to be ready for operation pending IEPA approval the week of May 3. But the change of water won’t go into effect until after village residents have been notified in advance with a notice included in their water bills and a community outreach program to make sure the information is out.
After residents have digested the information, Illinois American can deliver treated water from its Granite City treatment plant to the people of Glen Carbon around June 1.
This means a change of disinfectants as well. Free chlorination by the city of Edwardsville will be replaced by the chloramination process of American Water.
The village approved an agreement between the village of Glen Carbon and the Lakewood Homeowners Association (HOA) concerning the proposed Lake Outlet Repair Project.
The village has easement rights to access and maintain water lift station #3. To get there, machinery and other vehicles must drive over the riprap at the Lake 2 dam. To minimize erosion, a flexible concrete mat is planned to stabilize the auxiliary spillway outlet.
The Lake Outlet Repair Project, which is exclusively on Lakewood HOA property, is estimated to cost $50,582. An IEPA grant through Heartland Conservancy is expected to pay $25,241. Because it must access and maintain the lift station, the village will reimburse the Lakewood HOA up to 25 percent of the actual cost not to exceed $12,928 based on the final cost and upon approval and acceptance by the IEPA and Heartland Conservancy.
A bid and contract for solid waste and recycling services with Republic Services was approved by the board.
The next village board meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. at Village Hall.