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Drinking water delivered through the village’s system can sometimes look
"milky" or "cloudy." This cloudiness often occurs when air becomes trapped in
the water. While this may impact the water's appearance, it does not affect the
water's safety and will not harm household plumbing systems.
How does air get into the water?
It can be introduced in many ways, including the water pumping process where you
bring colder lake water up to the surface for treatment and distribution or
water pipeline maintenance. This condition occurs most often when water is very
cold and then warms up while in a building's interior piping. Cold water can
hold more air than warm water. Therefore, some air comes out of solution as tiny
air bubbles when the water warms up. At times the water may be so densely filled
with air that the water appears cloudy.
Because water pipelines are pressurized, air remains trapped in the water until
you open the faucet and release the pressure—similar to the effect created when
you open a bottle of soda. The thousands of tiny air bubbles that form give the
water a slightly white appearance.
How do I know if cloudiness is really because of air?
To see if the white color in the water is due to air, fill a clear glass with
water and set it on the counter. Observe the glass of water for two or three
minutes. If the white color is due to air, the water will begin to clear at the
bottom of the glass first and then gradually will clear all the way to the top.
This is a natural phenomenon and is completely normal; the water is safe to use
Figure 1- Cloudy Water clearing after a few minutes
Trapped air does not affect water quality
It's important to understand that this cloudy appearance does not reduce the
water's quality. Technicians collect and analyze hundreds of drinking water
samples each year from throughout the Village’s system to ensure that tap water
meets or surpasses the standards of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
If you have questions about the quality of your drinking water, please call the
Public Works Water Division at 847-870-5640.
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