Dixmoor water woes: Old infrastructure leads to more water main breaks

DIXMOOR, Ill. - Two suburban schools had to cancel classes Monday after water service was disrupted by a water main break.

However, Dixmoor's village president Fitzgerald Roberts says the schools — Martin Luther King Elementary and Rosa Parks Middle School — will be open again on Tuesday.

Crews in Dixmoor were working around the clock after four mains broke this weekend and another one Monday morning at 147th and Hoyne.

"It’s been a terrible, terrible time," said Dixmoor resident Natasha Maxey.

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Over the past several months, there have been leaks, breaks and broken pumps, which for residents means boil orders and sometimes no water at all.

The reason for these breaks? Roberts says old infrastructure. Some of the pipes that busted were more than 100 years old and can’t handle full pressure.

In the spring, the village received $2 million from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and Cook County for a new water main. However, that money wasn’t given to the village.

"The funds does not come directly to us. It goes to the people that's doing the project. So Army Corps of engineer, they're going to do a project on the other side of town. That's the side that feed the business and the trailer parks the mobile homes," said Roberts.

The village president applauds that project, but adds they need millions of dollars more because with century old pipes, this is going to keep happening.

"We are trying to protect our children as best way possible and that’s hard knowing what the conditions of the water really is," said Maxey, who is a mom of six kids.

The recent repairs will cost the village more than $60,000. Roberts says he has asked Governor JB Pritzker and state and local leaders to help find funding to replace the broken system.