Main Water Plant Back Online, Village Staff Reports

Boulder Hill residents should start seeing an improvement in their water quality by the end of this week.

On Friday, Director Mike Pubentz confirmed that the main water treatment plant on Knell Road, out of commission since early February, is now back online and pumping water. Pubentz said the plant was switched back on at 4 p.m.

It may still take a few days for the water from the treatment plant to make its way to all the homes in Boulder Hill, Pubentz said.

Boulder Hill residents have been dealing with rusty water issues since November, when one of the village’s wells – Well 14, on the west side – malfunctioned. That well was repaired in January, but shortly after that, the main treatment plant was taken offline when residents started reporting a petroleum smell in the water.

To compensate for Well 14, public works staff pumped water to Boulder Hill from other wells, and the change in direction shifted loose rust deposits that built up in the older, cast-iron pipes beneath Boulder Hill. Once that well went back online, some residents reported that their rust issues had cleared up.

But since the main plant went offline, Boulder Hill homes have been receiving water from Well 8, which Pubentz said has a different water chemistry, one which loosens the iron deposits in the pipes. Some residents reported the rust issues returning after a week or two of clean water, while others have said the problems never went away.

Last week, trustees agreed to a $75 water bill credit for homes in the affected area, and to a long-term solution for the Boulder Hill water system, estimated to cost $7.8 million. For more on that, and to see a map of the area that will receive water bill credits, read .