Despite the crisis having ended, the people of University Park still are struggling with the aftermath of the crisis and to this day people are still seeking justice for the community.  In 2019 the people of University Park had two separate lawsuits filed seeking justice for damages caused by the crisis. The first filed was People vs Aqua Il which was filed on behalf of the people of University Park by the deputy attorney general. The conclusion of the lawsuit would come as an outrageous surprise to the people of University Park. In October of 2023, a pretrial settlement was reached and the consent order for that settlement was signed in June of the next year. The agreement states that Aqua Il had already repaid the community with price reduction and bottled water during the crisis. The people of University Park would only receive $900,000 for a technical assistance program from the settlement of the People v Aqua, the narrow scope of this program meant that people could only receive up to $3,500 per household.

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Another lawsuit would also be dismissed in October of 2023. Henderson vs Aqua Il was a class action lawsuit filed by Zimmerman Law Offices in Chicago. The Henderson lawsuit would be appealed before being dropped. A third lawsuit, Arnold et. all vs Aqua Il, was filed in March of 2025. Zimmerman Law Offices also filed this lawsuit. It was filed in federal court instead of state or county court. As of this writing, the lawsuit is still ongoing. The lawsuit alleges that Aqua Il purposely manipulated results of lead testing and that the adding of Seaquest, a chemical meant to improve water flow, caused the erosion of mineral build up that protected water from the lead collared pipes.

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During this time, the people of University Park were still facing issues with their water despite the crisis being considered over. First in January of 2024 there was a boil water advisory issued because of rain causing turbidity in the Kankakee River. Eight months later in August a water main would break on University Parkway. Ten months later in 2025 a do not drink advisory was issued for University Park and other areas because of elevated nitrate levels caused by fertilizer runoff. While the people of University Park were facing these issues the price of their water increased. In January of 2024 just before the boil water advisory Aqua Illinois filed a rate increase with the Illinois Commerce Commission.

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In August of 2024, Aqua Illinois discontinued the bottled water program begun during the initial crisis. Many people relied on this program to have safe drinking water that they trust. This lack of trust extends from the overall failure of the technical assistance program. The program would cease operations in March of 2025 with only 8 of the 256 citizens being eligible for the program. A mere $28,000 of the $900,000 settlement would be used. Today many people do not trust their water because of the risk of lead that was never fully addressed.

In January and February of 2024 two separate bills were introduced in the Illinois house and senate. These bills, SB2885 and HB5157, both aimed to reduce the price of water for the people of Illinois. HB5157 tried to make it so that companies like Aqua Illinois and others can not push the price of purchasing municipal water supplies onto the consumer. This bill instead looks to have the cost be borne by the shareholders rather than the consumer. SB2885 is a bill aimed at preventing the prices of political lobbying done by water companies from being put on consumers. Currently companies like Aqua Illinois can use this cost as a reason to increase prices, in a way creating a feedback loop of increasing profit.

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As of October 2025 Essential Utilities, Aqua Illinois’ parent company, and American Water are going to be merging. This calls into question the state of several issues still affecting University Park. The newest lawsuit may be affected, the technical assistance program may also be affected, and a commitment by Aqua Illinois to replace water mains in University Park could be affected as well.

The current landscape of the water crisis in University Park has shifted. While issues with the water still persist, the days of active contamination are past. People are now fighting for change. People are fighting so that this crisis is the last and for those who have been affected by it to receive remuneration for years of lead poisoning, fear, and uncertainty.