When Homer Glen resident Brianna Gloude opened her Jan. 7 water bill for $559.47, she was shocked.
Illinois American Water, which supplies her home, claimed the household used about 18,500 gallons of water in the previous month, about three times more than their normal use.
Gloude asked for a technician to come to their home, who confirmed there were no leaks and the meter was working properly, she said. Gloude was told her house had water running at full force for four days — from 3 a.m. Dec. 8 to 3 a.m. Dec. 12 — which she said was absurd.
The family was home in that time frame and would have noticed if there was water running nonstop.
The family wasn’t using water in the middle of the night, Gloude said. Any leak wouldn’t have magically stopped after four days, she said. If water was on outside, there would have been clear signs, such as puddles, mud or damage, and everything was fine. All of their outdoor spigots had also been winterized, she said.
Gloude said she began fighting the bill and has accumulated 45 pages of notes from her time spent with Illinois American Water customer service representatives.
Gloude didn’t know if she was alone in her fight with the utility company, so she reached out to her neighbors and village officials.
She started a change.org petition to demand answers from Illinois American Water for the high costs. Nearly 800 people signed.
She set up an email address, watertaskforce.homerglen@gmail.com, for residents to share their stories, and she asked the community to come to a meeting Friday.
Residents said they have questioned huge bills or odd discrepancies similar to Gloude.
Beatriz Avitia and Mustafa Shafout moved to Homer Glen from Bridgeview in November. In two months, they have been charged more than $600 for water.
“We are scared new residents,” Avitia said.
The bill makes them wonder whether they should use a laundromat or perhaps move out of Homer Glen.
Kelly Chiocca said a recent bill for her two-person household was $309, and it has more than doubled since they bought their house 11 years ago. She noted they previously had a town house in Oswego with a $30 to $40 monthly water bill.
“I call it liquid gold,” she said. “It’s like a car payment.”
Chiocca said the high costs of water affects their daily lives. She and her husband do only a few loads of laundry a week, use paper products in the kitchen and run their dishwasher only minimally. They won’t use the bathtub, and they ensure the faucet is always off when they brush their teeth.
Michael Cerullo said his water bill two years ago was about $250 after replacing his pool liner and refilling his in-ground pool. One of his more recent bills, however, was $377 for his household consisting of just he and his wife. In the winter, they aren’t watering the garden or flowers, and it didn’t make any sense, he said.
“The water bill is sky high,” he said.
Russ Chorley said the highest his water bill has been was $278 for a two-person household. In everywhere he’s lived, the Illinois American Water bill has been by far the highest, and it makes him concerned whether they could sell their home, he said.
“We don’t water the lawn,” he said. “We shower, do dishes and the laundry. That’s about it.”
Homer Glen residents have expressed frustration with their water bills for years.
Well before Homer Glen incorporated as a municipality in 2001, developers were building subdivisions that were too dense to utilize well and septic systems, village engineer Brett Westcott said at a Village Board meeting last month. There was a need for private utilities because there were no public utilities to tap into, he said.
Citizens Utilities Company was the original developer of the lake water pipeline and appurtenant facilities, and its customers in Homer Glen began receiving Lake Michigan water in 2001, about a month before the village incorporated. Citizens Utilities Company sold its assets to Illinois American Water in 2002. The utilities have always been private and never publicly owned, Westcott said.
About 6,000 homes in the village are served by Illinois American Water, said Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike.
Village officials established a sewer and water task force in 2004 to investigate the cost of water, and by 2006 filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Commerce Commission against Illinois American Water, according to village documents.
It was in 2006 the first steps were taken to work with other suburbs and examine the option to acquire the water and sewer systems from Illinois American Water.
Bolingbrook, Homer Glen, Lemont, Romeoville and Woodridge formed the Northern Will County Water Agency and filed a lawsuit in 2013 to proceed with eminent domain and acquire the water pipelines, village documents said.
In nearly a decade, though, the cost to buy the lines rose from about $43 million to $200 million, and Homer Glen and the water agency believed potential cost savings in buying the pipeline and system would be outweighed by the cost required to pursue the takeover, according to village documents.
A settlement agreement was reached in 2023.
Homer Glen officials have not given up in the fight to try to help residents with their water bills, and the issue is frequently raised at Village Board meetings.
Village attorney Michael Pasquinelli said last month the firm has been in contact with the Illinois attorney general’s office and is working on all options to assist residents.
Homer Glen has discussed in closed sessions ways it can help residents deal with the high costs of water, Neitzke-Troike said. Village officials also protested recent rate increases with the Illinois Commerce Commission, she said.
The Illinois Commerce Commission, which oversees utilities, in December approved Illinois American Water’s rate request of $110 million, which was about 30% less than the $152 million rate hike the company originally requested.
The new rates, effective Jan. 1 will support the investment in critical water and wastewater infrastructure throughout the state, including the replacement, lining and installation of about 44 miles of aging water and wastewater pipelines, the company said in a news release after the rate request was approved. The new water and wastewater base rates was driven primarily by about $557 million in capital investments in 2024 and 2025, the release said.
In 2024, the company invested $277.6 million in system upgrades, spokesman Terry Mackin said. The rates were reviewed and approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission over an 11-month process.
“The ongoing capital investments we make in our water and wastewater systems help provide quality, reliable service to our customers,” Mackin said in an email.
The amount of rate change varies among the company’s operating districts, Mackin said. The typical residential customer on Chicago Metro Lake Water Rates using 3,500 gallons per month with a 5/8-inch meter increased about $13.40 per month for water service and about $7.70 per month for wastewater collection and treatment services, or about $23 per month for wastewater collection only services, Mackin said.
Illinois American Water is the largest investor-owned water and wastewater utility in Illinois, serving about 1.3 million residents in 148 communities, according to the Citizens Utility Board.
Neitzke-Troike said the village is happy to look at residents’ water bills to see if there are any issues. Residents also should check their water’s bills’ history to ensure that one month or one year isn’t drastically different than previous months or years.
Residents can file legitimate complaints with the Illinois Commerce Commission. Neitzke-Troike said residents should bring a copy of those complaints to Village Hall so the village has records.
Residents are also encouraged to check on their neighbors who are senior citizens to ensure their bills don’t contain anything unusual, she said.
Village officials are working with state representatives and following any legislation in Springfield related to the water.
State Sen. Rachel Ventura, a Democrat from Joliet, introduced Senate Bill 1513 earlier this month that would allow municipalities to buy back their private water lines through a referendum in response to water rate hikes.
Gloude said she is simply “a mom who got an almost $600 water bill and went into a tailspin,” but she hopes residents can band together to file complaints with the Illinois Commerce Commission.
“I do think we can make some kind of difference the more people get together,” she said.
Mackin said Illinois American Water offers customer assistance through its H2O Help to Others program, payment plans and budget billing. Qualifying customers can also receive assistance through the company’s income-based discount program, he said. Part of the rate order included approval to expand the income-based discount program to make additional customers who need bill assistance eligible for the program.
Residents with questions about their accounts or water meter should call its customer service center, Mackin said.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
