Free bottled water available for those who live in the area at Ridge Park
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A boil order impacting several Chicago neighborhoods was lifted Thursday morning, 19th Ward Alderman matt O'Shea said.
The order covered the Beverly, Morgan Park, and Auburn Gresham neighborhoods. people have been lining up at ridge park for bottled water
City officials say 60,000 people were impacted by this boil order. It applied to the buildings and homes located east of Sacramento Avenue, north of 119th Street, west of I-57, south of 87th Street, and southwest of Beverly Boulevard.
The boil order stemmed from a mechanical failure at the Roseland Pumping Station, which forced a shutdown and the possible contamination of water mains.
The issue was fixed, but the boil order remained in effect until around 6 a.m. Thursday.
The Department of Water Management advises residents to do the following with the boil order rescinded:
-Flush all faucets. Run all cold-water faucets for 5 minutes. Instructions for intensive flushing can be found at: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/water/supp_info/winter-weather-and-your-water-system.html
-Flush drinking fountains by continuously running for 5 minutes.
-Flush automatic icemakers. Make 3 batches of ice and discard all 3 batches.
-Drain and refill hot water tanks.
- If you have a water softener, run water through a regeneration cycle.
- If you have a point-of-use or inline water filters, sediment and/or Reverse Osmosis systems perform the recommended filter change or back-wash in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications.
-Drain reservoirs in large buildings that have water-holding reservoirs.
-Flush water coolers: run coolers with direct water connections for 5 minutes.
-Re-start and flush any water-using fixture in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications.
For any questions, residents can contact our Water Quality Surveillance Section at (312)-744-8190 or 311.
Long lines of cars could be seen filing into Beverly's Ridge Park, 9625 S Longwood. to receive packs of bottled water.
Officials said more than 5,000 cases of water were passed out and that operation is expected to continue while the boil order remains in place.
Resident Margaret Ingram shared the challenges of living under a boil order.
"I boil the water, wash the dishes but then I have to wait so I can rinse the dishes," Ingram said. "I had to boil more water to rinse the dishes, so it's been a problem."
Officials encouraged residents to boil water for at least five minutes, before any activity involving the consumption of water.