Dixmoor getting close to normal water pressure
Dixmoor residents are getting close to normal water pressure from a temporary line from Blue Island after going a week without water because of a burst pipe.
The village entered a temporary agreement with Blue Island on Oct. 22 after its residents went seven days without running water.
The agreement stipulates that Blue Island will charge Dixmoor $12.37 per 1,000 gallons. Village spokesman Travis Akin said he doesn’t know how that it’s cost but the village didn’t have much of a choice.
“We’re kind of put in a situation where they (the village) really didn’t have a whole lot of choice,” Akin said. “They needed a quick solution because the village had been out of water.”
The village’s pressure readings were at 30 pounds of pressure per square inch Monday, just short of the normal 35 to 36 pounds of pressure per square inch, village officials said Monday in a news release.
“We are getting close to normal water pressure, which is a clear indication that the problems in Dixmoor did not originate in Dixmoor,” Village President Fitzgerald Roberts said in the release. “The problem was not — nor has it ever been — with our pipes. The problem has always been an issue with our water supply.”
Officials from Harvey, Dixmoor’s sole water provider, addressed the water shortage early last week, saying the problem is in Dixmoor not Harvey.
Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark said at a news conference that workers contracted by Harvey found a burst pipe near West 147th Street and Robey Avenue in Dixmoor.
The break was in a water main that runs through the woods near I-57 and Robey, according to Innovations and Solutions manager Randy Lusk with M.E. Simpson, a water management company brought in by Harvey to examine the problem.
The broken water pipe was estimated to be leaking about 500 gallons of water a minute, Lusk said on Oct. 26 — 720,000 gallons per 24 hours, he added. He clarified that the problem did not originate, as previously suspected, with the 12-inch feeder pipe running from Harvey to Dixmoor.
But Dixmoor officials say the problem stems from Harvey. “The notion that the problems are in Dixmoor is easily disproved by the fact that when you bring in water from Blue Island and pressure comes back to you know, practically normal, clearly the problem is in the water supply,” Akin said in an interview Monday.
According to the Monday news release, Fitzgerald said he has been in contact with his experts and village staff and they are reviewing possible causes of the water issues, including a possible valve issue in Harvey.
Village officials also addressed the fact that most of Dixmoor’s public works employees were laid off days before the village’s recent water shortages.
Five of six employees were laid off Oct. 13, days before the water problems started in the village. “The village complied with all requirements regarding layoffs in its collective bargaining agreement with Service Employees International Union Local 73,” Monday’s news release from the village said. “The employees laid off were not qualified to perform repairs necessary to remedy any village of Dixmoor water supply issues.”
“SEIU waited until two weeks after the employees were laid off, and until the water issue became highlighted in the media, to allege the village illegally laid them off and imply that the layoff contributed to the water supply issue,” the statement continued. “As stated previously, the cause of the water issues is a supply problem and has nothing to do with labor negotiations in the village of Dixmoor.”
The boil water order remains in effect, but schools have reopened and businesses are open. The village is also still offering water at village hall for residents who need it.
Seniors can call the village at 708-389-6121 and water will be delivered to them.