By Madhu Mayer

While Joliet has made a decision on where it will buy water for the community, the City Council has learned there is a delay on a study detailing exactly how much it will cost to get the supply from Lake Michigan.

Allison Swisher, public works director, said engineers are finalizing cost estimates and the numbers will be reviewed internally. The study should be completed by the middle of this year. The initial deadline was the end of last year.

The Joliet City Council last year unanimously approved a $87 million bond issue, which is a portion of the projected $592 million to $810 million project. The City of Joliet will share the costs with members of the Regional Water Commission that also includes the communities of Romeoville, Crest Hill, Shorewood, Channahon, and Minooka. Following Joliet, Romeoville would be the next largest water user in the commission.

Complicating factors on the cost study, according to Swisher, is inflation and the commission, which did not exist when Joliet decided to green light the project in 2021.

The City of Joliet’s existing water source will no longer by sustainable by 2030 if the current water usage does not change. The goal is to provide the city with Lake Michigan water by 2030. New infrastructure will be built near the existing Chicago Southwest Pumping Station, and it will be owned, operated, maintained, and overseen by the water commission.

Joliet in January 2021 approved an agreement with the City of Chicago to bring Lake Michigan water via pipeline to Joliet, which is about 33 miles. Lemont opted against joining the commission.

The $87 million bond issue the council approved also includes money to pay for the ongoing water main replacement in the city. The $12 million from the bond issue will go toward replacing water mains in the Reedwood neighborhood, which is in the River Bluff area along Laraway Road.

The water main replacement is necessary because the cities that use Lake Michigan water are required to have a water loss rate of less than 10 percent. Mains that are old typically causes leaks and water losses, according to city officials. They say Joliet typically loses about a third of its water produced in the well system.