Politics & Government

Deerfield Drops Highland Park Water Lab

Village will switch to Lake Bluff which offers faster service.

In the wake of issues arising from an order issued August 12 requiring Deerfield residents to boil their water, the Village has selected a new lab promising faster results to test its water supply, according to a news release issued Monday by the Village.

Water will now be tested by the Central Lake County Joint Water Agency (CLCJAWA) located in Lake Bluff. Deerfield will no longer use the Highland Park City Water Laboratory which it accused of delaying a report two days the Village’s water supply tested positive for fecal coliform.

The CLCJAWA lab can perform the necessary tests within 18-24 hours rather than the two days required by the Highland Park facility, according to Village Manager Kent Street. The lab is fully staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Highland Park delays occurred over a weekend.

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Mayor Harriet Rosenthal felt the move was in the best interest of Deerfield citizens. “We owe it to our residents to use the best testing methods available that will allow us to receive the results more quickly and at a reasonable cost,” she said.

In a related matter, the Illinois Environmental Agency has reviewed the events which led to the boil order and confirmed the Village’s investigation which revealed it did not know about the necessity of a boil order until it was issued August 12, according to the release.

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