Lake Michigan vs Well-community water H2O (Naperville, Downers Grove: houses, neighborhood)

[2mynewhome]

personally water is what... H2O. But the wife want to know why in some area far west... Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove, Westmont all have Lake Michigan water. But part of Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills seem to use well water.

I know there is soft and hard water, but is there a big difference...maybe in price of the water bill?

or is there an issue if the well dry up?

[ahava]

The majority of suburbs use Lake Michigan water. The older suburbs originally used well water but most switched to Lake Michigan water during the past 40 years or so. I know that my town (Western Springs) still uses well water because it would be enormously expensive to build the infrastructure now to get water from Lake Michigan, plus we'd have to pay a fee to other cities for pumping it over to us. Because most suburbs use lake water now the amount of water in the underground aquifers here has actually risen. I didn't see much difference in the water bill between living here and places with Lake Michigan water.

[HOWELL_STREET]

IF one has well water at their residence, then they also have a septic system. With that combination, the only costs are usually with the pump electricity (1/2 to 2/3 horse power pump motor - - single phase - - at 240 Volts A.C. ) and the septic tank 'pump - out'. For most families, a septic pump - out is only required once per year.

Today, in many private well systems it is also necessary to have a large in - line iron filter. To make that filter work, potassium permanganate is used. A medium sized canister of that chemical will cost about $17. IF one does NOT use an iron filter, then it could become a serious health risk.

A young lady in our residentail rural area, became alergic to so much iron since she had no filter. And she actually had symptoms of a heart attack failure. So she was rushed to the hospital emergency room. A doctor mis - diagnosed (sp?) her condition and operated on her heart. Although this gal survived and is a happy woman, today, she ended up suing the doctor for mal-practice.

IT is far much better to have city water rather than a private residential well. "AHAVA" is quite accurate in her above statements, though, about the expense of city water.

Carter Glass

[charlotteh]

Another issue to consider is well water contamination. My neighborhood in unincorporated Downers Grove used to have private wells, they were all contaminated by an industrial company. The water contained unacceptable levels of known carcinogens. The area was hooked up to Lake Michigan water for free, and all the wells were sealed. The company was sued for millions. Some people didn't drink out of their wells for years, and had to purchase bottled water.

If you do go with well water, make sure you have a good water softner. If it's a private they will do a seperate inspection and tell you how deep the well is before you purchase the home.

[HOWELL_STREET]

Charlotteh has several good points, too. As a matter of fact, we have also been drinking bottled water for many years. Our neighborhood has asked the county to install city water and sewer for us. And we have asked several times. But none of the nearby municipalities are willing to do this since we are in a no - man's land and classified as county jurisdiction.

Each property owner in our residential area has 1/2 acre of land with a house sitting in the center of that.

So some of us 'think' that the county is waiting until they can condemn our well systems and then confiscate our properties. If they get away with that, then the land is sold to a contractor who then tears everything down and then squeezes more houses into our 'subdivisin'. Once that happens, then taxes go from an average of $5K to perhaps around $8K to $10K per year. So you see their logic?

Currently, we don't think that they can get away with that. However, who knows with constantly changing rules that municipal governments invent(?)

Carter Glass

[ahava]

Just to clarify, a private well is different than a city's source of water being a well instead of Lake Michigan. I don't have a septic system, filters, or a water softener. My city takes care of those things at its water treatment facility, just like other cities do with the lake water. However, as far as I know Lemont is the only other town east of the Fox River to use a well as its source of water so if you're seeing houses in Hinsdale/Clarendon Hills with well water, it must be from private wells.

[Chinolala]

I would not want to deal with wells, septic tanks, etc. City water is reasonable, good and always available - hassle free.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by 2mynewhome

personally water is what... H2O. But the wife want to know why in some area far west... Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove, Westmont all have Lake Michigan water. But part of Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills seem to use well water.

I know there is soft and hard water, but is there a big difference...maybe in price of the water bill?

or is there an issue if the well dry up?

The reason everyone wants Lake water is because of all the contaminants present in well water. Well water around this area is loaded with Iron which will dye all your clothes a yellowish hue, and turns your toilets brown. It also has a tendency to have naturally occuring Radon/Radium deposits in it making it slightly radioactive! Isn't that just wonderful. According to the EPA, radium can be found naturally in soil, water and food at low concentrations. But high levels of these contaminants ingested over a long period of time can lead to serious health problems. My vote would be to go with lake water. At least it is less harsh on everything and it won't aid you in glowing at night. Drinking Water: Radon and Drinking Water from Private Wells- Parasitic Pathways - Division of Parasitic Diseases and Radium in Drinking Water Fact Sheet

[2mynewhome]

must thank you all for your input.
thanks, ahava, HOWELL, charlottes, lisak64, NYrule...

not a big fan with bottle water if there is "clean" water around... bottle water cost the environment dearly.

I would think Hinsdale or Clarendon Hills can paid to pump lake water... or they just like their wells.

Originally Posted by HOWELL_STREET

Charlotteh has several good points, too. As a matter of fact, we have also been drinking bottled water for many years. Our neighborhood has asked the county to install city water and sewer for us. And we have asked several times. But none of the nearby municipalities are willing to do this since we are in a no - man's land and classified as county jurisdiction.

Each property owner in our residential area has 1/2 acre of land with a house sitting in the center of that.

So some of us 'think' that the county is waiting until they can condemn our well systems and then confiscate our properties. If they get away with that, then the land is sold to a contractor who then tears everything down and then squeezes more houses into our 'subdivisin'. Once that happens, then taxes go from an average of $5K to perhaps around $8K to $10K per year. So you see their logic?

Currently, we don't think that they can get away with that. However, who knows with constantly changing rules that municipal governments invent(?)

Carter Glass

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by 2mynewhome

must thank you all for your input.
thanks, ahava, HOWELL, charlottes, lisak64, NYrule...

not a big fan with bottle water if there is "clean" water around... bottle water cost the environment dearly.

I would think Hinsdale or Clarendon Hills can paid to pump lake water... or they just like their wells.

It depends where the community geographically falls too, and if they're located on the Lake Michigan water table. Essentially meaning, their waste water will be treated and returned to the source, thus maintaining a manageable balance. Once you have towns to far out wanting LM water, its lost and is never regained. There are some communities right near the cutoff who want to be piped water, but the issue become once you make one concession, its a slippery slope. There was a feature on the Tribune highlighting the larger threat to the ecosystem: basically arid western states with booming populations not being able to provide their own water, and wanting to pump great lakes water out to them.
Great Lakes key front in water wars -- chicagotribune.com (http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/chi-water_bdoct28,0,3142729.story - broken link)
Its definitely going to become a huge issue in the coming decades; hopefully fail proof legislation can be laid down ahead of time to prevent any such pilfering.