St. Charles residents want better water, but improvements have big cost

A group of St. Charles residents are tired of city water that looks like it should be coming out of their bodies rather than going in.

On Monday, they'll ask aldermen to push forward with a multimillion-dollar solution that may see an increase in water bills.

"When you fill up our tubs it is yellow, and the toilets are yellow," said Sarah Hoffer, who lives on Foxgrove Drive. "We are uncomfortable having our children drink the water and even bathe in it. It is also harming our appliances and fixtures. It is discoloring and staining our laundry and requiring residents to purchase and maintain expensive equipment in order to mitigate these problems."

Those filters, softeners and the salt that goes into them can run upward of $700 a year. And the water still isn't great, said Hoffer and fellow resident Rhonda Brooks.

Their conversations with city staff members informed them the problem is hard water. Dissolved elements like calcium magnesium and iron are common in hard water sources, according to the Water Quality Association. The association's water quality scale runs from less than 1 grain per gallon of such elements to greater than 10.5 grains per gallon. Any water with more than 7 grains per gallon is considered hard. Brooks said she's been told St. Charles water rates between 18 and 40 grains per gallon, which is not uncommon for well water.

That's substandard for what St. Charles residents already pay in their water bills, Brooks said.

"Good water should be a basic service to St. Charles residents, and people should feel comfortable drinking the water," Brooks said. "Why are we paying for a substandard product?"

The answer is because it would take about $30 million in water system upgrades to fix the problem. City officials have told the residents that level of expense would translate to a $100 to $200 hike in the average residents' water bill for the year. Brooks said that's a big savings from what she pays to treat and soften the water in her own home. And it's much cheaper than replacing major appliances with greater frequency because of the wear and tear of the hard water.

City officials will host a meeting for residents to discuss moving forward with plans to improve the water at 7 p.m., Monday at city hall. Hoffer and Brooks are encouraging fellow residents to come out and show support for better water.