Huntley Pumping Millions of Gallons of Water Daily

Steve Zonta is the guy who gets the alarm whenever equipment breaks or water levels go down.

He’s been getting lots of calls about the water level this summer.

Everyday, Public Works Director Jim Schwartz and  Zonta, the village’s utilities superintendent, look over data showing the water levels and water usage. The figures have been astounding.

Huntley’s state of the art system usually pumps 1.5 million gallons of water from five deep wells during the winter months. This is the base Huntley uses to determine how much water is needed for daily things people need water for, like showers and laundry.

Water usage has spiked to 4.5 million gallons on some days this summer, Schwartz said. There have been days where water usage has gone up to 5 million gallons, getting dangerously close to the maximum capacity to pump water, he said.

A bulk of the water is going to irrigation systems to water lawns that have been going dry due to the region’s drought. It’s a big waste of water and tax dollars being spent to treat the potable water, officials said.

While rainfall in the last week has given the village’s public works department a bit of a reprieve, the water use restriction _ now set at Code Yellow and limits outdoor water use to three hours in the morning and evening _ continue and could go to Code Red if water usages isn’t curbed indefinitely.

Huntley’s water towers hold 3 million gallons in reserve from the deep wells, which are about 1,300 feet underground and get water from aquifers.

The village is luckier than most municipalities, like Algonquin, which have shallow wells, Schwartz said. Years ago, Huntley had shallow wells that had so much iron, it would turn the water reddish brown. 

The wells have been pumping water for 16 to 21 hours a day for about six weeks, even though they should just be running for 10 hours a day, Schwartz said.

Last year, the system pumped 800 million gallons of water, Zonta said. This summer, the system pumped 130 million gallons in just one month, he said

“We’ve had crazy numbers,” Zonta said.

“When we run the pumps days on end, weeks on end, the pressure level goes down and the well does not get a chance to recharge,” Schwartz said.

Huntley’s water towers must recharge too. The towers hold 3 million in reserves, which gets the village through the peak hours of 6 to 9 a.m. But the reserves must be available to fire departments to put out fires in case of emergency, he said.

Water levels in the towers have gotten very low this summer, Zonta said.

Schwartz said he must make sure there’s enough water for everyday use and emergencies.

If there’s not enough water to meet those demands, “it would be a disaster,” he said.

“If I don’t have water to put out a fire, I’m in trouble,” he said, adding he is a steward of the water and must act responsibly in the role. “If we let it (the water system) fail to let you water your grass, that’s not responsible.”