2 more water mains break in Dixmoor, as 2 schools remain closed because of water woes

DIXMOOR, Ill. (CBS) -- Water worries are plaguing south suburban Dixmoor again and it has nothing to do with the weather.

Two more water mains broke on Tuesday, after a string of earlier water main breaks forced the village to close down two schools on Monday and Tuesday. CBS 2's Shardaa Gray spoke with people who are understandably frustrated.

Dixmoor had at least five water main breaks at different locations between Friday and Monday, causing some residents to have low pressure, and keeping kids out of Rosa Parks Middle School and Martin Luther King Elementary School on Monday and Tuesday.

Charles Sanders is frustrated.

"You either got to get up when it's full to take a shower," Sanders said, "or if you're taking a bath, give or take hours to fill up, just to take a bath."

His water works, but not at full capacity.

"It's been low pressure since Friday. Last week it was three days and the day before, four days," Sanders said.

His water has already been an issue for weeks, and now it's worse because of a water main break right down the street at 147th and Hoyne Avenue.

That water main break caused Rosa Parks Middle School and Martin Luther King Elementary School to close on Monday. Sanders' son, Amaire, attends the middle school, and his daughter, London, goes to King.

"The toilets wasn't flushing," said London Freeman. "Then the teacher called parents to come and get the kids."

Two more water mains broke on Tuesday on 145th Street and 147th Street, and repairs were underway.

"Infrastructure is very old," Dixmoor village president Fitzgerald Roberts said Monday, before the most recent breaks.

Roberts said in order to get grants from Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to fix their infrastructure, they have to go through a lengthy process to apply, which includes an audit.

"Understand the audits was not up to par, but we cannot wait on audits to be done to get assistance. This is a state of emergency from what I see," Roberts said.

CBS 2 has reported on at least three other water main breaks in Dixmoor since October 21 of last year, which have caused significant issues for the community.

Last month, two water main breaks in Dixmoor shut off water service to the entire village for much of the day on July 21.

In early March, water also was shut off for several hours after another water main break.

Last October and November, water was shut off there for more than two weeks after a leak caused low water pressure – meaning people living there couldn't shower, cook, or wash dishes or laundry. The crisis also led to school cancellations.  

Roberts said there have been more.

"Three months ago, we counted probably about 30 breaks," Roberts said.

Despite the rain delaying construction workers from working on the water main break, Roberts was hopeful they would get the job done by the end of Monday.

Late Monday evening, the village initially said both schools would be back open on Tuesday -- but then backpedaled and said the schools would be closed again.

"The break has been fixed and originally we thought schools would reopen tomorrow morning, but we have been informed by the IEPA that tests need to be performed and so the two schools that were closed today will be closed tomorrow," Roberts said in a news release. "There also is a boil water order only in the affected areas of the break."