A matter of taste: Geneva residents prepare to go 'soft'

In a political climate where voters are thirsty for change, the city of Geneva is about to become a big softy and give the people what they want.

After a lifetime of pumping out hard well water, the Kane County community is about to open a new water treatment plant that promises to replace the old water and its heavy metal flavor, and deliver a kinder, gentler water with a much better taste for its growing population.

"You get a lot of people now out here from Chicago, or people who are used to Lake Michigan water -- that's their biggest complaint," Bob Van Gyseghem, Geneva's superintendent of water and wastewater, says of the old water's taste. "There's always been complaints. We get new people who come in and aren't used to the hard water, and they'll complain. The residents want higher-quality water."

Most of the suburbs around Chicago buy Lake Michigan water that already has been treated. Communities that must dig wells into the aquifer for water often deliver water that is full of iron, minerals and, in the case of Geneva, even an amount of radium that exceeds public drinking water standards.

The new water, which should start flowing on Feb. 18, has Van Gyseghem excited.

"There's no reason to buy bottled water anymore," he gushes. "The other added benefit is I think a lot of people will be able to get rid of their water softeners. We probably get two or three calls a week from people whose water softeners went on the fritz and they don't want to repair it."

In a town where most everybody buys or rents a water softener, that could be a significant change.

"It's inevitable that we're going to lose a couple," concedes Greg Entile, who has been the "Culligan Man" for the past 19 years in his job with Culligan Tri-City Soft Water.

The city aims to reduce water hardness from the current level of 24-to-27 grains to a much softer 5-to-7 grains. Even so, Entile predicts residents might keep their water softeners.

"I'm going to keep mine, you bet, because I love soft water," says Entile, whose Culligan business employs 10 people and provides a range of services throughout the county. "We think a lot of them (customers) won't get rid of it. We've been here for 80 years, we're going to hang a round a little longer."

While there was no strong "Save the Hard Water" movement, some folks would volunteer "I never minded the taste," Van Gyseghem says. "But it has got a mineral taste for sure."

At the Starbucks in downtown Geneva, as in all Starbucks stores, the water is filtered and then run through a reverse osmosis unit before it can be used to make coffee. Now, Geneva's water will undergo that same process before it enters the pipes.

The new water plant has a Starbucks feel to it. A simple glass of water is the result of complicated recipes that blend deep well water, shallow well water, minerals and chemicals in an environment rich with jargon. The plant doesn't even look like a water-treatment facility.

"They wanted to blend in with the rural aspect of this area," says Van Gyseghem, as he gives a tour of the red "barn" that contains color-coordinated pipes, new pumps and myriad filters and membranes used in the reverse osmosis process that purifies the water. An attached "silo" houses a giant decarbonation unit that alters the pH levels of the water.

"We're probably not going to have to do anything for the residents of Geneva for the next 100 years," Van Gyseghem says of the plant that can grow alongside the population.

But they might make a change in the plant's lunchroom rules. Van Gyseghem doesn't expect any employees to bring bottled water.

"Heck no," Van Gyseghem warns. "You'd better not."