Ohio building $1.16 million water treatment plant

By Barb Kromphardtbkromphardt@bcrnews.comshaw news serviceOHIO - The village is hiking sewer rates 75 percent and borrowing $1.16 million from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to build a $1.6 million arsenic and iron removal water

The 20-year, low-interest IEPA loan will be combined with other local funds and a $350,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The new plant is needed to bring the city's water system into compliance with new federal contaminant levels for arsenic and iron. It also will improve the taste and odor of the town's drinking water. Work will begin in a couple of weeks, Mayor Charles Thomas said. Village water rates will rise about 75 percent next month, but still won't be much higher than those in nearby towns, Thomas said. The village had no choice but to build the plant, he said. "Water standards are getting tougher and tougher. You have to have a permit to run a water system, and the days of just pumping the water and drinking it are long gone."