Elgin unlikely to spend $16 million to treat bad taste, odor in water

Ensuring Elgin's water doesn't undergo more serious episodes of bad taste and odor would cost about $16 million, an expense the city is not planning to take for now.

The discussion might happen if the problem - which has taken place three times in 20 years - becomes more frequent, city council members said Wednesday night.

The latest surge in bad taste and odor started in mid-June and lasted 26 days, Water Director Kyla Jacobsen said. The city draws river from the Fox River; similar episodes took place in 1996 and 2013, she said.

The problem is due to a compound called 2-methylisoborneol, or MIB, that does not affect water potability, studies show. The bad taste and odor are only detected by about a third of people, Jacobsen said.

MIB routinely manifests in some degree every year due to factors like climate, and the city treats it with powder-activated carbon, but when it reaches really elevated levels, that doesn't work, Jacobsen said.

Unhappy residents in June and July complained loudly via phone calls to the city and postings on social media.

The city could build equipment to treat the water with ozone, meaning it would add highly charged oxygen to the water, Jacobsen said.

"I am not bringing this up to endorse it or not endorse it, or say it is good or not good," she said, "but basically to tell you it is an option."

Rough estimates show construction would cost about $13 million, plus up to $2 million for engineering costs, Jacobsen said.

Annual operating costs would amount to $600,000, or about one-third more than current $2 million chemical budget, and would yield a 73 percent reduction in the bad taste and odor, she said.

Also, Jacobsen recommended doing pilot testing before moving forward, which would cost about $1 million.

Councilwoman Tish Powell said she sympathized with residents.

"Water is something that we all take for granted, and we have an expectation that it comes to our homes at a certain level of quality," she said. "If it was something that happened more frequently, we may have to consider something like this."