A donation celebrating two 100-year anniversaries is bringing water softening equipment to Peoria’s South Side Mission.
Work at the century-old mission’s main facility on Laramie Street took place earlier this week as part of a “100 for 100” nationwide charitable initiative by EcoWater Systems.
“This area of Peoria has some of the hardest water in the country. It’s extremely, extremely, extremely hard water,” said Jason Chapman, president of Quality Water Solutions, the Pekin-based company that handled the installation.
“That causes a lot of detrimental issues with plumbing systems, water heaters, dishwashers, how much chemicals and detergents they have to use, labor costs for repairs and maintenance, those types of things. So by having a softener, that can really minimize all of those costs that take away from their primary mission here at South Side.”
Rich Draeger, the mission’s development manager, said the building definitely has a need for optimal water quality.
“We use quite a bit of water here, and in the kitchens themselves, we do a large number of meals,” said Draeger. “Every day during the school year, we have 80 plus-kids here, so we’re using water for drinking water and lemonade and all those sorts of drinks. Our daily soup kitchen utilizes water, coffee, tea, you name it.
“Plus, there’s all the water that’s used to prepare meals. So that’s a big benefit to us. We feel blessed that now the water that we’re providing to our clients, to our guests, to our youth, is going to be much safer than it’s been in the past.”
Chapman said the fact both the South Side Mission and EcoWater Systems are marking 100 years of service made an ideal fit for the gift.
“We were tasked with looking around the area and trying to find a worthy organization for that donation,” said Chapman. “It just so happens that the South Side Mission is also turning 100 years old this year, as EcoWater Systems is.
“We came down to talk with them, and come to find out they have no water treatment equipment down here in their in their building. So it made sense for us to choose them.”
In addition to the full-building water softener, the facility is getting two reverse osmosis drinking water systems.
“It’ll just give us a peace of mind, and really relates back to our mission statement, a portion of which says, ‘Love our neighbors,’” said Draeger. “So, we’re loving our neighbors by providing better quality water for anybody that comes as building, staff included. We’re going to have nice, clean water running through our water fountains.”
Chapman said the water provided by Illinois American Water meets the safety standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but supplemental treatment can enhance the quality.
“This is just additional filtration and kind of a final barrier so that the South Side Mission knows that the water they’re serving to the people and the kids that are coming here, and the water that they’re using to prepare their meals is a very good quality, and it’s going to be healthy,” he said.
Draeger said bringing the water softening equipment to the mission, along with Illinois American Water’s ongoing efforts to replace lead service lines throughout the city, can help to raise community awareness regarding water quality.
“If we have the opportunity maybe to take the lead in this instance, kind of by divine intervention, then we’re happy to do that because we do know most of the people that we serve are right here in the 61605 [zip code] so they’re going to take it back to their homes and talk about it,” he said.
“Maybe it’ll spark some more interest in other homeowners or maybe landlords wanting to do more to increase the quality of the water.”
