‘It’s disgusting’: Buckley residents call on village officials to focus on water quality

BUCKLEY, Ill. (WCIA) — Some people in the Village of Buckley are upset about what village officials are and aren’t focusing their attention on. The biggest concern is water quality and the amount they’re paying for it.

The Village of Buckley has tried to build a new sewer system, but funding the project has been an issue. The Village President said they’ve secured millions of dollars in grants, but initial bids are higher than expected. Now, the sewer rate is rising on water bills, and patience is running low for people in town.

“We didn’t sign up for this and I feel like that’s really cruel,” said resident Karin Hall.

Several people WCIA spoke with on Monday said sewer charges went from about $5 a month to $17 dollars a month, and that’s on top of their usual water bill. They also talked about how they feel the village’s focus and money are in the wrong places, with many wanting to focus the attention on pressing issues like water quality instead of a new sewer system.

“I mean, it’s unbelievable that nothing has been done about it,” Hall said.

Ken Rockwood also lives in town and says the increased water rates are meant to pay for the rising costs attached to the planned sanitary sewer system.

“The town is stuck with it, over $832,000 that we have to pay back on 270 homes,” Rockwood said. “That’s a lot of money.”

The village said they’re keeping the sewer billing revenues in a separate account to cover some projected rising costs, or in case the project is halted.

But for Rockwood, it creates another issue of raising bills for a sewer system the village doesn’t even have, along with water some don’t drink.

“The water quality here is terrible,” Rockwood said. “I won’t even brush my teeth with it. You wake up in the morning, either the water is tinted yellow and it smells.”

Nearby neighbor Taylor Geren sometimes sees a similar tint and says it often reeks of chlorine.

“Sometimes I gag in the morning when I get up to go brush my teeth and just have to remember to get the bottled water, shut the water off,” Geren said. “It’s disgusting, you know.”

Geren feels it is unsafe to use the water for everyday things.

“I do not give it to my children and my animals,”Geren said. “It is not safe to drink or brush your teeth with. I soak my fruits and veggies with bottled water. I won’t even boil the water here because it smells like the chemical burn really bad.”

Hall also lives a few blocks away.

“Let’s test our water to see how bad the chlorine actually is in Buckley,” said Hall in a video.

She recently conducted her own test with a pool kit when the water she used to wash dishes began to burn her eyes.

“I would say that’s about a five or ten. That is so much chlorine, I wouldn’t even have that much chlorine in my pool. Wow. And we drink that,” said Hall in the video.

Hall said both the issues of the sewage and water quality should be addressed, but the latter is the priority.

“I really think that they need to work on the water quality first, and then we can talk about the sewage because the sewage is a problem as well. I mean, sometimes the whole town of Buckley will smell like sewage,” Hall added.

The village’s mayor and engineer are planning on showcasing updated sewer plans on April 7th, and the community is curious to know what’s next.

“I want to know their plans. Is this actually holding off until 2028? Because I don’t know if I will live here that long, especially if the problems don’t get fixed,” Hall said.

The village attorney has confirmed the sewer billing ordinance is a legal way to fund the project. The village president also encouraged residents to attend the village board meeting and ask questions. That meeting begins at 7 p.m. on April 7th.

Buckley President Evan Scott Shockley told WCIA in a statement:

“The village has been working with the IEPA recently to add a sanitary sewer system to alleviate failing septic tanks in the town. Although we have found nearly $10,000,000 in grants to pay for the improvement, bids taken at the beginning of the year were higher than expected, and now we need more grant money to help keep the sewer bills low.”