Oswego Commissions 4th Study On Drinking Water Sources

OSWEGO, IL — The Village of Oswego has agreed to commission a fourth study with an engineering firm on alternative water sources, village staff announced. AECOM Technical Services will continue to research the most cost-efficient source, trustees said. The village said a 2015 study determined that building a Fox River treatment plant would be the best option; however, the village hired AECOM for a new study in 2017 and discovered Lake Michigan may cost "significantly less" than previously thought, the village said.

“Either option is going to be a significant cost, but it’s something we have to do so that we don’t run out of water,” Village Administrator Dan Di Santo said in a news release. “By doing our due diligence up front and really making sure we’ve got the best numbers to make the right decision, we hope to minimize the financial impact on the Village and its residents and businesses.”

The $35,410 contract with AECOM is the fourth study commissioned by the Village over the past several years to research the viability and cost of alternative drinking water sources. The total cost of the new study — $49,000 — will be shared with Montgomery and Yorkville, Oswego trustees said.

The village's drinking water currently comes from a large underground aquifer, but experts said there's high demand for water in the region and it will run out.

Oswego has partnered with Montgomery and Yorkville to commission studies since 2015. AECOM did a preliminary study in 2017, but a further study is required to "refine the numbers," Oswego staff said.

About 80 percent of towns in the Chicago region get Lake Michigan water, with many purchasing water from the City of Chicago. Recent years have seen frequent price increases from the city, even though the wholesale cost of Lake Michigan water has stabilized, according to the nearby Village of Plainfield.

The village said the new study will investigate which changes would need to be made to the village’s internal distribution system with either Fox River or Lake Michigan water, including the cost of any new pipes that would need to be added throughout the Village. The study will also look into the cost of routing pipes from the DuPage Water Commission's Hookup in Naperville to the three communities, Oswego staff said.

Photo by Amber Fisher