Latest news with #waterCompany
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Illinois American Water issues notice after high lead levels in drinking water
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Drinking Water Notice was issued Monday Illinois American Water Co., for the entire city of Peoria after 14 of 103 water samples exceeded 'action level' lead quantities. While legally, a notice to the entire community was required as more than 10% of the samples exceeded safe lead levels, the company said this does not indicate a community-wide issue, and that they are in contact with those who may be affected. Illinois American, along with other water companies, are required by state and federal law to test water from different homes and businesses for lead and copper, mostly focusing on areas with existing lead service lines, the company said. The 14 sites that tested high had more than 15 parts per billion, which is above the action level, the water company said, adding 'for context, one part per billion is roughly the equivalent of one drop of liquid in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.' An attempted to reach an Illinois American spokeswoman for clarification was not immediately successful. They said that no water coming from their treatment plants has any lead, but water can get in the water from several factors, including lead service lines serving older homes, lead solder in plumbing, and some faucets made before 2014. The following are steps the company is taking in response to the results: Water Sampling and Monitoring: Conducting additional lead and/or water quality monitoring to determine the extent of the situation as well as any site-specific concerns. Customers interested in sampling should make a request by sending an email to Leadfreeil@ Corrosion Control: Completing an assessment of the company's current corrosion control treatment used to determine if changes are recommended. Lead Service Line Inventory and Replacement: Illinois American Water has a lead service line replacement program in place that will replace any known lead service lines over the course of the next several years. Since 2020, Illinois American Water has replaced almost 2,500 lead service lines in the Peoria District and plans to replace approximately 930 more by the end of the year. Customers can identify and report the material of their water service line on our online map. For more information on service line identification, replacement, and our inventory map, visit: There are also many steps customers can take to reduce the chance of their exposure. Flush your taps. Lead levels increase over time as water sits in lead-containing plumbing materials and regular water usage in the building can reduce lead levels in drinking water. If the water in your faucet has gone unused for more than six hours, flush the tap with cold water for 30 seconds to two minutes before drinking or using it to cook. If your service line is lead, you may need to flush the water for three to five minutes. To conserve water, catch the running water and use it to water your plants. Use cold water for drinking, cooking and making baby formula. Hot water has the potential to contain more lead than cold water. If hot water is needed for cooking or baby formula, heat cold water on the stove or in the microwave. NOTE Routinely remove and clean all faucet aerators. Check to see if your interior plumbing or faucets contain lead and replace any that do. Look for the 'Lead Free' label when replacing or installing plumbing fixtures. Follow manufacturer's instructions for replacing water filters in household appliances, such as refrigerators and ice makers, as well as home water treatment units and pitchers. Look for NSF 53 certified filters. Flush after plumbing changes. Changes to your service line, meter, or interior plumbing may result in sediment, possibly containing lead, in your water supply. Removethe aerator from each faucet and run the water forthree to five minutes. Use alternative source of water, such as bottled water, if part of an at-risk population, such as pregnant persons, infants, and young children. According to the company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says risks of exposure to high levels of lead include lower IQ and attention spans for infants and children, an increase in existing learning and behavior problems, and adverse health side effects for children of women exposed to lead during pregnancy. A copy of the release can be found on the Illinois American Water website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
I pay my water bill annually: Could this get me rejected for a mortgage? DAVID HOLLINGWORTH replies
I pay my water bill annually, which costs about £500 per year. This usually works fine for me, but I've recently become concerned about how it affects my credit score. I've been checking my credit report online as I need to remortgage soon. I noticed that, as this year's water bill hasn't been sent to me yet, it shows on my credit report as having a £500 debt to the water company. Could this affect my mortgage application and is there anything I can do about it? My credit score is otherwise good. I don't have a meter, so am charged based on my home's rateable value rather than the amount of water I use. David Hollingworth replies: There's a lot to think about when searching for the right mortgage. Getting the best interest rate is key, but you also need to consider whether you and the property will meet the lender's criteria. There are several things borrowers need to keep in mind here, including their credit score and any marks on their file which could raise lender eyebrows. Can you afford this mortgage? The lender will want to understand your income, and also see a breakdown of your regular financial commitments and everyday outgoings. Those figures will feed into the lender's affordability calculation to determine the amount of borrowing that is affordable, and the maximum mortgage available to you. Although all lenders work on similar principles, they will each have their own calculation. The final amount you are offered will not only depend on income and outgoings, but also how the lender's 'stress test'. This is when they look at your proposed monthly mortgage payments, and check whether you could still afford them if the rate went up in future. If you are applying for a longer fixed rate deal, you may be able to borrow more. Many lenders have also eased back their mortgage stress rates after the regulator made clarifications around the options open to lenders. Are you a good borrower? The lender will also want to look at your credit profile to see if you are able to borrow responsibly. Lenders will be able to see your current credit commitments and track record of payments through your credit file, which will be held with an agency such as Experian or Equifax. They will also generally apply their own credit scoring to the application. There's no exact science to this and each lender will take a different approach. Having no track record of borrowing and paying it back can be an issue, as well as more obvious issues like late and missing payments. This is because it is harder for the lender to understand the risk. Having credit in place is not a bad thing as long as payments are up to date, which will help to demonstrate that you will be a good risk. A lower credit score could affect whether the lender can offer the level of borrowing required, or even offer lending at all. Credit reference agencies give easy access to your credit file now, so it's straightforward to be able to see what a lender is looking at for little or no expense. They may also provide an indicative credit score to give a feel of how you might be seen by a prospective lender. These don't necessarily tally with exactly the same approach that a lender will take but will give a useful benchmark. Will the water bill make a difference? You say your credit score is good, despite the water bill issue. This should provide you with confidence regarding your mortgage application, albeit no guarantee. The fact that the water bill is showing on your file is clearly temporary and the lender will be able to understand that it is a utilities bill. If that appeared to be £500 per month then a lender may have questions about whether it is something that would need to be factored into affordability, but it should be apparent that's not the case here. Some lenders already factor the average cost of utilities into their affordability modelling. It's therefore probably unlikely that the water bill will be an issue for you. However, if you are concerned that affordability is tight, speaking to a mortgage adviser should help to give a better overall picture. They will be able to look at deals from across the market and compare those to the options from your current lender. Once you have assessed the options, they can help put the right deal in place. David Hollingworth is This is Money's mortgage expert and a broker at L&C Mortgages - one of Britain's leading specialists. He is ready to answer your home loan questions, whether you are buying your first home, trying to remortgage amid the rates chaos or looking to plan further ahead. If you would like to ask him a question about mortgages, email: editor@ with the subject line: Mortgage help Please include as many details as possible in your question in order for him to respond in-depth. David will do his best to reply to your message in a forthcoming column, but he won't be able to answer everyone or correspond privately with readers. Nothing in his replies constitutes regulated financial advice. Published questions are sometimes edited for brevity or other reasons.
