Boil Order Lifted for Vernon Hills Area

LAKE COUNTY, IL — The boil order issued for hundreds of residents living in the Vernon Hills area has been lifted, county officials said Thursday. The boil order was issued Tuesday night after sections of the Vernon Hills water system, including those living in the New Century Town, Forest Haven and Mettawa areas, lost water pressure or service for about an hour. On Thursday morning, that boil order was lifted after test results from the Lake County Public Works IEPA certified laboratory confirmed the water in these areas is free of coliform bacteria and is safe to consume, according to a statement from Lake County Public Works released Thursday.

"Residents and businesses may return to normal use of their water service," according to the statement. "Lake County Public Works thanks everyone for their patience over the past two days."

On Wednesday, Lake County published a detailed interactive map that shows which businesses and homes were under the boil order.

The county first tried to notify all residents under the boil order about the situation through the use of a robocall on Tuesday night but ran into some technical issues, which lead to not all affected residents receiving a call.

"Public Works is continuing to work to notify impacted customers through all available platforms," county officials reported in a Wednesday statement.

Residents affected by the boil order were told to use bottled water for any potential consumption, such as drinking, cooking, washing fresh fruits and vegetables, handwashing and brushing teeth. Tap water can be used for other personal hygiene, laundry and household cleaning. If bottled water is not available, the affected tap water should be boiled for three minutes and allowed to cool before being used.

More information on the boil order notice can be found at lakecountyil.gov/boilorder.