Erica Mbangamoh woke up early Friday and looked outside the window of her Skokie home to find “a river where the street should be.”
“The water was so high the fire department asked us not to go anywhere [Friday] night because it wasn’t safe yet,” Mbangamoh said.
Mbangamoh lives at Bennett Avenue and Emerson Street, near where a major water main break left parts of the village flooded Friday. Public works crews worked through the night to repair the water main at Emerson Street and East Prairie Road, city officials said. Replenishment of the water system began at 9:10 p.m. Friday.
Water pressure reached the minimum levels required for testing Saturday afternoon, so samples can now be taken and sent to the Environmental Protection Agency.
However, due to the incubation period needed for lab testing, the boil order would continue for Skokie into at least Sunday evening, officials said Saturday afternoon.
Skokie Fire Chief Jeff Hoeflich said water main breaks are common, especially in the winter, but Friday’s water main break was “a first.”
“This was catastrophic because this was the main transmission to the village. So to have a failure of that is extremely unusual,” Hoeflich said.
Crews worked throughout the night to replenish the water system.
“So it’s quite a bit to deal with, but fortunately the water department got right on it and was eventually able to isolate it completely so we could transfer over to our backup and start refilling the system,” Hoeflich said.
Residents are advised to boil all water for at least five minutes before using it, or use bottled water instead. Residents are also advised to avoid non-essential water usage until the issue is resolved.
Demetrius Whitehead lives on East Prairie Road in Skokie near where a water main broke early Friday. “It’s pretty hard right now boiling water, having to go get water, not being able to use the bathroom without getting water to wash your hands.”
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Demetrius Whitehead, 29, who lives across the street on East Prairie Road from where the break happened, said dealing with the boil water order has been a challenge.
“It’s pretty hard right now boiling water, having to go get water, not being able to use the bathroom without getting water to wash your hands. You can’t use the bathroom unless you fill up the toilet with probably 10 bottles of water,” Whitehead said.
The village distributed cases of bottled water at Sketchbook Brewing, 4901 Main St., and by early Saturday afternoon most of the 18 pallets of bottled water were gone, Hoeflich said. Another water bottle distribution event is set for 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Sunday at Sketchbook Brewing.
Warming shelters are also available for residents at Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Ave., and Robert Crown Community Center, 1801 Main St. in Evanston.
Ivery Brown, a facility maintenance worker at Robert Crown Community Center, said there has been a steady stream of people coming in to pick up cases of water throughout the day. He said the center had gone through nearly two full pallets Saturday, with each pallet holding almost 100 cases of bottled water.
City workers make progress on replacing a portion of the broken water main on East Prairie Road in Skokie on Saturday.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
City crews said a fitting cap on a major water main had failed, and it was being replaced Saturday afternoon, Skokie officials said. There was “no indication” the failure had been caused by construction.
Mbangamoh noticed there was a problem Thursday night.
“The manhole cover was hemorrhaging water when I came home Thursday at 4 p.m., and then crews came,” she said. “This area has had a lot of water main work in the last few years. In the last couple of years, they put in all new pipes here, so this is a brand-new road. All of it is relatively new too, so this is really a surprise.”
Mbangamoh said her family lost access to water on Thursday nigh, and her son wasn’t able to go to school because they “were stuck and flooded in.”
They were able to get some water from a neighbor and the fire department, she said, “and then we had a river, so we grabbed water from there to flush the toilets.”
Mbangamoh said water was restored by 9 a.m. Saturday.
A boil order in northwest Evanston was lifted late Saturday, but residents who live in the 60203 ZIP code were still under a boil order, city officials said.
“The decision to lift the boil order in Northwest Evanston comes after thorough testing and confirmation that the water quality meets safety standards as per the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,” city officials said.
Testing revealed there was “no evidence that Evanston’s water system had been contaminated due to the water main break in Skokie.”
Saturday appointments at Skokie Hospital and some of its clinics in Skokie and Evanston were rescheduled. The walk-in clinic at Skokie Hospital was relocated to Glenbrook Hospital on Saturday, and outpatient radiology, pharmacy and lab services was closed Saturday.
A boil water advisory sign is seen at Old Orchard Mall in Skokie on Saturday. The mall was closed Friday due to the water main break.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Westfield Old Orchard shopping center reopened Saturday after closing on Friday, though hours for stores, restaurants, theaters and salons may differ due to the boil order. Water fountains in the mall will be shut off.
City officials ordered all affected restaurants to close. Popular restaurant EJ’s Place remained closed Saturday due to the break.
“EJ’s will reopen after the boil order has been lifted and we can safely serve you again,” the restaurant posted on Instagram. “We regret the inconvenience, and we are heartbroken this upsets a holiday weekend that is so special for so many of our guests.”
Resident Mbangamoh said that although the incident has been inconvenient and wreaked havoc on homeowners’ properties, she was impressed by the crews working to make repairs.
“They’ve been working on this nonstop since they started working on this section. I know it was a long slog and they’re really working hard, so I do appreciate the work they’re putting in to get it fixed.”
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