More broken water mains in Dixmoor force school closures for Tuesday, possibly Wednesday

DIXMOOR, Ill. (CBS) — We’re getting our first look at these huge holes in water pipes, in south suburban Dixmoor.

They are the broken pipes that, this week, shut down schools and caused headaches for homeowners. And it’s a problem that suburb has been dealing with for almost a year.

CBS 2’s Shardaa Gray reports crews have been working around the clock to fix these problems.  

The Village of Dixmoor’s President said they found leaks and capped them this summer, which saved the village from losing 500,000gallons of water a month.

But the extra pressure caused by capping the leaks is now causing the water main breaks, and residents are fed up. 

Two more water mains broke on Tuesday in Dixmoor, closing two schools again for a second day in a row.

This comes after several broke since Friday. 

Since October, CBS 2 has reported on water issues in Dixmoor, and on Tuesday, there are new problems. Village of Dixmoor President Fitzgerald Roberts blames the pipes, which are 100 years old, and he said they’ve always been patched, but never replaced.

Monday’s water main break on 147th caused kids at King Elementary School and Rosa Parks Middle Schools to stay home a second day on Tuesday.

Now the village is dealing with two more. They are the sixth and seventh breaks in Dixmoor since Friday. Roberts recognizes it’s a serious problem. He said the village is fixing one patch at a time, but once one is fixed, another one breaks.

A boil advisory was put in place on Tuesday so the students and neighbors in the area won’t drink the water.

“It’s closed today and it depends on how the outcome is when we get the samples back. So that might be in later on this evening or may not be in until tomorrow. If it don’t come in tomorrow, then schools will be closed again until tomorrow,” said Roberts.

U.S. Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday asking for an immediate study on the water supply.

Roberts said a permanent solution would cost about $20 million and they are trying to get the money from Cook County.

As to whether the schools will reopen on Wednesday, Dixmoor village officials first said schools would be back open – but then backpedaled and could not confirm whether they would or not.

This was the second consecutive night in which the information provided by the Village of Dixmoor changed. On Monday night, the village first said the schools would reopen Tuesday – then later backpedaled and said they would not.