Ground Water

Pekin is a community of 33,854 people and is located approximately ten miles south of Peoria. Seven wells provide the area with 100% of its drinking water. These wells are relatively shallow, ranging from a well depth of 90 to 154 feet deep, and the soils are sandy. Although well sampling as a part of the Illinois Statewide Groundwater Monitoring Program revealed no well contamination, the community is very concerned about protecting the water supply.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's "Pilot Groundwater Protection Needs Assessment" for the Pekin Public Water Supply has been used to adequately address the city's concerns and problems.

Groundwater Guardian Team

The ten member team in Pekin consists of two citizens, one educator, four representatives from government, and three business/agriculture representatives.

Result Oriented Activities

A groundwater protection ordinance was used to impact the planning of several site plans for new and existing businesses. A county-wide groundwater protection ordinance is in development.

To complement the protection ordinance, a GIS mapping project was completed to determine setback and recharge areas.

A Pekin Groundwater Education Committee was formed to implement the recommendations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's Pilot Needs Assessment. A booth was set up at a variety of conferences, business expositions, and educational fairs. Presentations were given to classes in the Pekin School System.

Street signs were installed to delineate the location of the recharge areas for the City's wells and to alert citizens that they are entering sensitive recharge areas.

A Contingency Plan was developed with the city fire department to provide an emergency response plan in the event of a hazardous or special waste spill in a recharge area.

Groundwater Protection Program View the Groundwater Ordinance