October 29, 2007
 Editor:
Dave Uphoff
The Minonk Public Works Department is to be congratulated for receiving an award from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The award was in recognition of achieving the highest standard of compliance for at least ten consecutive years. Public Works Superintendent Charlie McGuire and his staff are to be commended for their hard work and dedication for ensuring that the residents of Minonk have the best and safest water possible. In addition to Charlie, I want to thank city employees Carey Nass, Jim Brown, Ron McCurdy, Lucas Timmerman and Mike McKay for their dedication and hard work in keeping Minonk clean and functioning properly. I know they take pride in their work and strive to keep Minonk looking good. Minonk's water has come a long way from when I was a young person in the 1950's. Back then Minonk's water was renown for its salty and unusual taste. The funny thing is the Minonk residents loved the water once they got used to it but outsiders who never tasted the water before would actually gag when they tried to drink it for the first time. I remember more than once watching an out-of-towner spit out their coffee in the Princess Sweet Shop. Minonk's water back then had an abundance of fluoride which is said to have resulted in fewer tooth decay and cavities. Since then Minonk has drilled a new well and installed a reverse osmosis system that resulted in much better water.
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Minonk residents are fortunate to have such good drinking water now. Not many towns our size have a reverse osmosis system which is about as good as you can get in water quality. In fact, the water is so pure that it actually causes copper pipes to corrode. I was told that the city has to add some minerals back into the water in order to prevent copper pipes from eroding. Anyone who visits the water works on Washington Street can't help but be impressed by the maze of pipes, valves, and tanks that look like something from a nuclear plant. A final word on water is that we are fortunate to have had an abundance of rain this year which resulted in the best corn crop ever according to some farmers. Some fields averaged over 250 bushels of corn and is now up to $3.75 a bushel which means we should be seeing plenty of new pickup trucks this winter. Just 150 miles south of Minonk near drought conditions existed this year and corn yield was less than half of local farmers. So while the southeast and the west are suffering through a prolonged drought, we are grateful for our bountiful harvest this year. With the increased demand for water and the global warming situation, water will become the oil of the future. Sooner rather than later we will need to adjust our life style so as to conserve water as it becomes more precious.
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