COLES COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — It has been more than a day since Mattoon faced an unsafe water alert, prompting local businesses to persist in supplying bottled water.
The City of Mattoon Water Treatment Plant and the Coles County Health Department continue to recommend that residents avoid using tap water for drinking and cooking. Adults without open wounds can use the water for showering. This advisory is due to a toxic algal bloom detected at hazardous levels.
As testing continues — stores are working to keep shelves stocked.
“If we need to bring in four or even five more truckloads of water, we’ll ensure it’s available,” stated Zak Britton, the operator of Niemann’s in Mattoon. “Our commitment is to remain proactive and strive to meet the community’s needs.”
It’s all because of the dangerous algae in Lake Paradise and Lake Mattoon. The health department said they got the alert from the city and started warning people on the radio Thursday.
Now — it’s been a busy last day for businesses in Mattoon to keep water bottles available for the community. They said efforts to re-stock came together quickly — and will continue for as long as it’s needed.
“It’s been almost like COVID when it comes to the panic shopping that’s been going on,” Britton said.
With tap water currently off the menu thanks to an algae bloom — perhaps the most popular item on Mattoon shelves the last day has been bottled water.
“From six-to-eight last night we sold over 22 pallets of water,” Britton said. “Those are roughly 84 cases per pallet, so we’ve moved over 1,500 units of water in the last 12 hours. So, it’s been nuts.”
Across town, Express Drive-Thru’s Inc also saw a bottled water-based boom. Owner John Woodruff said about every other car they served on Friday bought water — totaling about 100 cases sold.
“Just a tough day yesterday for Coles County and the city,” Woodruff said. “Mattoon was busy helping folks with obviously bottled water, bottled drinks… it’s been a stream of steady customers.”
Britton said efforts to keep shelves stocked came almost immediately after the unsafe water alert was issued Thursday night — with calls to different vendors for deliveries in a short period of time.
“We knew it was going to be one of those situations, when in the wording of ‘do not use any of the water,'” Britton said. “You know, those are words that we knew that people were going to react to, and we knew they were going to be coming in in floods.”
One of many vendors unexpectedly called into action was Effingham’s Koerner Distributor — who shipped pallets to various locations Friday morning.
“We thought it would be a good thing to try to help make a difference up there and make sure everybody had plenty of water that they can drink,” said Mitch Wohltman, Coles County District Sales Manager with Koerner. “We have the capabilities, the logistics and the folks that work here that are generally good culture guys that wanted to step up and help.”
As the community waits for the all clear — business will continue to be on standby with shelves stocked.
“I know a lot of places are doing the best they can, and we’re just trying to do the same thing,” Britton said.
The Illinois EPA came and took more samples of the water on Saturday after results still came back over safe levels. The city said the newest results should be available Sunday afternoon.
