Wilmington public works: Violation notice in water bills a reporting issue

Wilmington water customers will see a notice of a violation at public works when they open their water bills this month.

But, city leaders said the issue is related to a mishap in reporting, and is not reflective of any issues with your water itself.

“On April 18 of this year, the water department staff collected a disinfection byproduct sample, at the direction of our contracted state certified laboratory,” Public Works Director James Gretencord explained to members of the City Council, gathered for their regular meeting on Dec. 5. “That sample was not supposed to be collected until May. Once we talked to the state, we took an additional sample in June. Both collected samples were within the IEPA allowable limits, but because we did not collect the sample in May, we were in violation. Immediately in June we were out of violation, but because of this we have to do a violation notice.”

Gretencord said the city has already addressed the issue by switching laboratories in an effort to stop the situation from repeating itself.