West Dundee water 'safe' despite elevated barium, radium
Water testing in West Dundee has shown elevated levels of the elements barium and radium, but the problem is expected to be too short-lived to pose any health risk, authorities said Wednesday.
Village Manager Joe Cavallaro said the elevated levels are because of equipment failure in the water softening system, and repairs are expected to be complete by the end of January. Until then, Cavallaro said the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has told him the water remains safe and not in violation of standards.
"It's not West Dundee making the determination it's safe to drink," he said. "The IEPA, by its standards, has determined the levels we are delivering are safe to drink."
The Illinois EPA's public water supply division said West Dundee is not violating water quality standards despite a reading Nov. 26 that showed an elevated barium level of 7.2 milligrams per liter, when 2 milligrams per liter is allowed. That's because the barium threshold is based on a running annual average, so it takes more than one high reading to become in violation of standards, Illinois EPA spokeswoman Kim Biggs said.
Cavallaro said the village notified residents of the high barium reading even though it doesn't qualify as a violation in an effort to keep people informed. West Dundee plans to do the same with the recent elevated radium reading, which came in at 5.92 on a scale of units known as picocuries per liter, when 5 picocuries per liter is allowed.
The elevated levels are occurring because the village is unable to produce softened water until maintenance and repairs are completed on three of its four water softener units.
One of the softeners was shut down recently for scheduled maintenance. While it was down, two of the remaining three softeners unexpectedly failed, leaving only one operating. Cavallaro said the system requires two softeners to function, so the village stopped the softening process and returned to delivering unsoftened water.
"This is the same water quality and water source that we were using prior to 1985," Cavallaro said.
The softening system was added to keep up with stricter standards from the EPA for the removal of barium and radium from the drinking water supply.
Long-term exposure to barium in drinking water can lead to an increased risk of high blood pressure, according to the EPA, while long-term exposure to radium can increase the risk of cancer.
But Cavallaro said West Dundee's water supply is expected to have elevated levels of the two elements for only 60 days - a period much too short to cause risks from long-term exposure.
The village had budgeted $20,000 for maintenance on the first water softener unit, and now the board has allocated an additional $40,000 for repairs on the two softeners that unexpectedly failed. When work is complete, the EPA said the softeners will remove barium and radium from the water supply.
"Once that is back operating, there should be no concerns," Biggs said.
The EPA ordered the village to conduct another round of tests in January. If barium levels remain high because water softener repairs are not yet complete, that could trigger a violation of standards, the agency said.