After years of hauling bottled water and eyeing their faucets with suspicion, University Park residents just got a major development in their long-running water saga. A federal judge has signed off on a $12.5 million settlement with Aqua Illinois, clearing the way for a formal claims process for people who say contaminated tap water cost them money, time, and plenty of peace of mind.
The settlement stems from a stretch of bottled water and do‑not‑consume advisories and a state consent order that forced more testing, filters, and limited plumbing fixes. Village officials say the settlement fund is designed to reimburse a range of losses and will be paid out by a claims administrator to current and former residents, along with local businesses.
What the settlement covers
The money will be divvied up through set award levels, depending on what people can document. Claims can cover out‑of‑pocket expenses, lost wages, and other damages tied to the water problems. Some claims may reach up to $15,000 for pipe replacement or bottled‑water purchases, personal‑injury claimants could qualify for an additional $30,000, and about $3,000 has been identified for the sheer inconvenience of living with polluted water. The village itself is set to receive $100,000. Residents are expected to start seeing checks by early fall, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Who can file and where to get help
Current and former University Park residents, along with local business owners, are eligible to file if they were covered by the lead advisory or earlier nitrate warnings. Submitting a claim will determine how much compensation, if any, they receive.
Village Trustee Gina Williams told reporters that officials plan to hold office hours to walk people through the paperwork and that notices are being sent by mail to affected households and businesses, as reported by CBS Chicago. The village says the process is retroactive, so people who moved away after the contamination was detected are not out of luck and can still apply.
Technical assistance has already been provided
Separate from the settlement money, state and local agencies previously hammered out a Technical Assistance Program that offered kitchen‑tap testing, free filters, and, when needed, limited plumbing work paid for by Aqua. Under that program, plumbing repairs were capped at $3,500 per home, and the TAP set aside up to $900,000 specifically for faucet remediation.
The consent order that created the TAP also required extra sampling and monitoring while Aqua worked on corrosion control after switching the village to Kankakee River water. The Illinois EPA’s University Park Technical Assistance Program page provides more background on how that program worked and its enrollment deadlines.
How it unfolded and the legal backdrop
The trouble traces back to Aqua’s decision to switch University Park to surface water from the Kankakee River. In June 2019, testing revealed elevated lead levels, which triggered a "do not consume" order followed by a lead advisory. That same year, state and county prosecutors filed suit against Aqua and negotiated a consent order.
According to the Attorney General’s office, that consent order required additional sampling, filters, and the TAP, all while regulators oversaw Aqua’s remediation efforts. A later federal class action brought by residents was eventually resolved through the settlement that has now received court approval. Federal court filings and the Attorney General’s release describe how the change in water source, combined with corrosion control failures, was linked to hundreds of elevated lead samples over multiple years, as laid out in public court records and the state release.
Local officials say the payout is progress but not a finish line. Mayor Joseph Roudez III has said the village plans to chase roughly $100 million in federal aid to replace miles of aging pipe and explore a new water supply so residents can finally stop leaning on bottled water and filters, as reported by CBS Chicago. Residents with questions are urged to watch for official mail from the village and the claims administrator, and to contact Village Hall for details on available help.
