By Dee Longfellow
City crews were on the scene on Wednesday, July 5, following a break in the water main at Poplar and Crescent. The cause of the break was due to work performed by Nicor on Wednesday afternoon, according to the City, which issued frequent updates on the situation. A precautionary boil order was put in place at that time for all City water customers within the borders of Park Avenue (south of the railroad tracks) to York Street to Butterfield Road to I-294. Only residents in that geographic boundary needed to follow the boil order (see map).
Public Works crews were able to successfully isolate the leak and restore pressure to the system. All further repairs were completed during the overnight hours.
The following day, the City announced that it was replacing approximately 50 feet of broken main and hoped to complete it that day. Flushing of the boil order area (see map) was completed on Thursday, July 6 and nearly 100 coliform samples were collected.
In an update on Friday, July 7, the City said it was waiting for the lab results of the water samples that were submitted late Thursday.
On Saturday, July 8, it was reported that Saturday’s IEPA round of water testing samples passed, however the precautionary boil order needed to remain in place pending Sunday’s test results. Due to an initial failed water test, IEPA laws require new samples to be collected and tested over a two-day period.
On Monday, July 10, the message was received that the boil order had been lifted.
The City reported that repairs have been completed and the necessary flushing and purification verification steps have also been completed. After several days of testing, water samples have been confirmed to be free of coliform bacteria by a certified laboratory.
The following directives were issued by the City for those who were in the boil order area:
• You may return to normal use of your water service, however the City has the following recommendations:
• If you have not used any water in your home during this boil order period, it is recommended to run each faucet in the home for 2-3 minutes before any consumption use.
• Any ice generated during the precautionary boil order is recommended to be discarded and regenerated.
• Clean your faucet aerators.
• If you have any water filters in your home (including refrigerators with water dispensers), you should consider changing them at this time.
The City recommends that all residents visit Elmhurst.org/1586/Precautionary-Boil-Orders for more information.
