PEORIA (25News Now) – John Burkhart, director of Normal Water Works, said natural ammonia is present in the city’s 12 groundwater wells.

However, Burkhart said current water levels do not make drinking water unsafe.

The city is looking for ways to remove the gas from the wells, although the EPA does not currently regulate ammonia levels in drinking water.

The problem is maintaining the chlorine levels used for treatment. Burkhart said the ammonia consumes the chlorine, so the city has to flush out water with chlorine levels that are too low.

“When the chlorine residue gets low, there’s a chance that bacteria will form and multiply, and that could affect someone,” Burkhart said. “We don’t let the levels get that low, but we’re fighting that.”

Burkhart said the city would incur costs associated with flushing, but he did not specify the amount.

While he did not say how much water was wasted, he said Normal has used about the same amount of water in recent years. Rising chlorine and chemical costs are other ongoing problems.

Rivian is based in Normal but uses Bloomington’s water system.

Normal has been trying to reduce ammonia since 2021, when the city started a pilot study with a Chicago-based company. They experimented with using bacteria in the water to reduce ammonia.

The experiment worked for the small test batch of water, but earlier this week the company said it was not possible to build a machine that could perform the same process for Normal’s entire water system.

“There are other options, such as reverse osmosis, but that would require purchasing a completely new treatment process for the plant. That is very expensive,” said the director.

Burkhart said the EPA may take action to regulate ammonia levels in drinking water at some point, another reason the city is trying to be proactive.

The city, its water treatment partner and a consultant will meet in the coming weeks to discuss how to proceed.

Since there are no plans for this, it is unclear whether any additional costs will be passed on to the taxpayer.

Burkhart said he hopes to have a plan by the end of this year.

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