Dixmoor water crisis, boil order reaches 8th day after source of problem identified
DIXMOOR, Ill. (WLS) -- A boil order remains in place Saturday for south suburban Dixmoor as village and Cook County officials give an update on the water situation.
The county will continue to provide bottled water to residents through the Salvation Army and other volunteer efforts.
"It's important to note the boil order remains in effect, water cannot be ingested in the Village of Dixmoor until a line from Harvey is restored," said Bill Barnes with Cook County Emergency Management.
Volunteers are passing out bottled water in the neighborhoods and there is plenty more available at Village Hall. It's all in an effort to make sure people have water since it has been a full week since south suburban Dixmoor has been without reliable running water. The issue has forced residents to boil their water and left them with very low water pressure.
"They doing what they can. As long as they give us water to drink and clean my body, I have no complaints," said Dixmoor resident Jeremiah Davis.
Residents are trying to take the water woes in stride as the village and Cook County work on fixing the underground problem that involves holes in a main line coming in from neighboring Harvey -- which provides the water to Dizmoor.
"The engineers have identified a stretch of pipe, so they know where to look. Once that problem is solved, they can get in and repair it," Barnes said.
Unfortunately, county officials do not have a time frame. However, a temporary fix to increase water pressure was put into place Friday, with fire hydrants being to route water from Blue Island to Dixmoor.
Although, it may take a bit more before residents see full pressure.
Theresa Nelson came up with her own solution so she, her husband and three daughters can shower again.
"I bought those shower heads that are used for low pressure water, so it made it kinda regular," she said.
Even when it is repaired, public officials know with infrastructure over 100 years old, it can happen again. Tey said the real fix would be money from the state and federal government to replace old pipes. For now, they are working with a temporary fix from Blue island and officials said the boil order will remain in effect until the main line from Harvey is fixed, which may not be for a few more days
