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Despite a counter-proposal from Illinois-American Water, village trustees in Glen Carbon voted 4-0-1 Tuesday to approve moving forward with the village's own water treatment plant.

"I am excited to be part of a community that invests in itself," said Mayor Bob Marcus just prior to the vote. "Building your own water treatment plant takes courage and the ability to make tough decisions and I think that is what the board is doing tonight. I see that we've listened to village residents and building our own water plant addresses their needs - quality water control and reasonable rates."

Trustee Ben Maliszewski abstained while Trustee Walter Harris was absent.

"My abstention vote was not against the decision to construct a water treatment plant," wrote Maliszewski by email Wednesday. "My abstention vote was due to that there is not enough financial information, either revenue demands or operational costs, that would allow me to make an informed decision."

This brings the village's water source odyssey to a crescendo of a sort. From the mid-1990s until last June, the village purchased water from the City of Edwardsville. In 2019, the city announced that it planned to raise its water rates ahead of some needed water system upgrades, and as a customer, Glen Carbon would be required to pay for 25 percent of those improvements, or between $5 and $6 million. The village resisted that move, not wanting to pass a cost increase on to its residents. The village has not raised residential water or sewer rates since 2017.

Instead, Glen Carbon negotiated a five-year agreement in 2019 to switch to IAW as a short-term solution while it explored other options, such as partnering with Maryville, selling its water and sewer assets to IAW, and building its own water treatment plant or remaining with IAW. All of these options include a rate increase. Of the four, building its own treatment plant or remaining with IAW long-term became the front runners. Water quality issues elsewere in the nation - New Jersey; Flint, Michigan; and in University Park, a Chicago suburb, prevented any fast and easy changeovers. 

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) mandated rigorous loop and other tests of both Edwardsville's water and IAW's before it would allow the change, which IEPA approved last June. An important distinction is that Edwardsville, Maryville and Collinsville all draw groundwater from the American Bottoms Aquifer. Glen Carbon, as an IAW customer, currently receives surface water from the Mississippi River. All of this and more were discussed in June at a board meeting as the board discussed and listened to both IAW and WHKS, the consulting firm the board selected to design a water treatment plant. 

Mayor Bob Marcus said last month that another option, returning to the City of Edwardsville water, is no longer possible because Edwardsville's in-city rate went from $4.15 per 1,000 gallons in 2018 to the current $8.18 per 1,000 gallons. Marcus said adding the village's operational costs atop today's rate would not make it feasible for residents or businesses.

WHKS Project Manager Scott Hunt said last month that if approved, design work will start this month, with the treatment plant's initial completion date set for December 2025, weather permitting. Hunt also said the village would likely need to go through water analysis or a source water change study before they could switch back to groundwater from surface water. He said IEPA has only committed to a pipe scale analysis, which is a portion of what was done during the previous switch from groundwater to surface water. Hunt said that would involve submitting finished water quality data from IAW as well as comparing water service pipes -  what Edwardsville used to provide, what IAW provides now and what is projected to be provided using new treatment methods at Glen Carbon's own facility. IEPA will evaluate all that and decide if another round of pipe-loop studies are needed like those IEPA demanded the first time.

Resident David Rands, who moved to the village from Shiloh in 2017, praised Utility Superintendent John Leezy, Village Administrator Jamie Bowden and others in the village for going its own way on water during the public comment portion of Tuesday's meeting. Rands advocates maintaining local control of water, especially after looking at the financial data involved. 

He said IAW has rate increase requests for existing customers pending with the Interstate Commerce Commission of between 27 and 33 percent. "It's financially a no-brainer for us to build a water treatment plant," he said.

Rands talked about the water quality and he attended June's meeting at which IAW deflected the water quality as 'aesthetics' and customers would get used to the differences between ground and surface water. 

"I'm here to tell ya, I'm not getting used to it," he said. He added that the water's hardness is much more of a problem than IAW allows. "It hurts your clothes washer. It can gum up mechanisms in dishwashers and ice makers in refrigerators." Hunt said the water softener they will use adds 49 milligrams (mg) of sodium to an eight-ounce glass of water. That compares to a slice of bread (170 mg), an egg (55 mg), a Diet Coke (40 mg) and a cup of Cheerios cereal (200 mg). 

Joe Ahlvin, senior operations manager for IAW's southern division, spoke next. He said he's been part of this process with the village since it sought to separate from Edwardsville and he and IAW have put in a lot of legwork to get to this point. He pointed to three recent events affecting water quality - the company's annual distribution system maintenance, which uses what they call a free chlorine burn. Second was the village-wide boil order last November. Finally in February, IAW returned to free chlorine, all of which he termed as anomalies. He believes they can work through the taste, odor and hardness issues together. 

In a memo to the mayor and trustees dated Tuesday, Bowden outlined his thoughts. He said water quality is just one facet to consider; others are the cost of the system and service oversight.

"IAW is suggesting a partnership with the village on pursuing an option on groundwater," he wrote to the mayor and trustees. "Unless the village owns and maintains the asset, the same disadvantages to selling the asset applies. Any improvement cost invested in by a private utility will be passed on to users with no direct oversight."

Bowden said another advantage to buidling its own plant would be that the village's current cross-connection agreements with Maryville and Edwardsville, would be more effective. As long as Glen Carbon is on IAW's water, it cannot provide water to other, adjacent jurisdictions as the chloramine disinfectant IAW uses is not allowed in places where groundwater is used.

"The village has struggled with disinfectant levels since the transition (in June 2021) and will continue to upgrade its current system to accommodate for this," Bowden wrote. The village has so far invested in two tank mixers, chlorine analyzers, hydrant auto flushers and is looking at investing in an automated rechloramination station. "The village may continue to have service issues until IAW upgrades its service line and provides redundancy."

Under a long-term agreement with IAW, the village would maintain its distribution system and handle any water main breaks or sewer issues. The village would also retain its utility employees and the service level residents have become accustomed to using, including the new remote water meter system, which cost $1.8 million to install. 

IAW's Ahlvin said the cost of groundwater is cheap at first, issues tend to crop up around iron and manganese, which can create havoc if not properly prepared for upfront. He also touched on possible drought conditions affecting the aquifer that Glen Carbon would draw from even though drought has not been an issue lately. He also implied IAW would be a better partner to help navigate "constantly changing environmental regulations."

Selling the water and sewer assets to IAW would mean an immediate cost hike of $14.93 (18.35 percent) per month in a resident's average total utility bill, based on the company's current offer. Future rate increases are unknown and would have zero input from the village. The village would also have no control over service interruptions or changes. 

Conversely, building its own water treatment facility will result in a $2.23 increase per month in a resident's average total utility bill in the first year. This is the only increase that would keep the money in the village, officials said. Similar rate hikes, about seven percent a year, will occur over five years to cover debt and annual operational costs. Besides the initial capital cost, another staff person with a Class B operator's license will need to be hired to run the new facility. There are also potential higher construction costs given the current market. 

On the positive side, the village will retain control over production, quality and cost, will be able to respond to concerns, and no longer be dependent on other entities for water. The new facility would have capacity for 2026 and the future, which means no reliance on neighbors during extreme weather or maintenance periods.

The next village board meeting is July 26 at 7 p.m. in village hall, 151 N. Main St. 

Charles Bolinger covers Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Maryville, Edwardsville Township and the Collinsville School District for The Edwardsville Intelligencer. A graduate of Webster University in St. Louis, he has been writing for the paper since 2018.