Amid Continuing Water Pressure Woes In Dixmoor, Residents Aren't Confident The Next Fix Will Be The Last

DIXMOOR, Ill. (CBS) -- Residents of south suburban Dixmoor were suffering from water woes again on Sunday, for the second day in a row.

The water pressure made it such that barely any water was coming from their faucets. Residents are now outraged, and were gathering outside their homes Sunday night.

They told CBS 2's Steven Graves it is part of a bigger problem.

Village leaders said Sunday that relief is on the way. But residents said this is the far from first time they have been left high and dry, and they aren't convinced it will be the last either.

In a news release, the village said a water break that caused a major loss in water pressure in Dixmoor on Saturday has been fixed. But until the turbines for the water system are fixed, full water pressure will not return.

"We can report that we found the break which occurred in Harvey and the break has been repaired," Dixmoor Village President Fitzgerald Roberts said in a news release. "Right now, we are waiting for the pressure to build back up, but we won't have full pressure until the turbines we use to add water pressure are repaired. We will have engineers on site tomorrow to diagnose the problems with the turbines."

But with little or no running water for two days in Dixmoor, frustrations are indeed running high.

"Surely that's not enough to take a shower with," said Martha Montero as she examined a trickle in her shower. "It is very frustrating."

Montero can't shower, she can't wash her 2-year-old daughter's bottles, and she can barely brush her teeth.

"It's very much a trickle," she said.

It is also a trickle-down effect – not only hitting her neighborhood, but also thousands of other people in the village.

"The fact that I'm still paying for water, but then not getting it - I think that's a little ridiculous," Montero said.

Many say this is just one instance of water issues this year and even going back before that. There have been some cases since 2019.

Stacie Price has had enough.

"I was in the process of moving anyway. This is just accelerating my timeline," she said. "This just continues to solidify why maybe the town should just be annexed out to other villages, because obviously, their management and mismanagement is just beyond gross."

Roberts blames the aforementioned pipe break for the issues. He said it happens in the City of Harvey, which solely provides water to Dixmoor.

"I'm tired of it and I wish there was more I can do about it," Roberts said.

Roberts said financial feuds between the two south suburban municipal governments are causing water woes – this current pipe issue possibly included.

"It's suspect right now how it occurred," Roberts told Graves. "We're getting to the bottom of that now."

For now, he said the broken pipe is fixed. But again, he noted that turbines are still down, and he said engineers are coming in to fix them on Monday.

Meanwhile, residents are stuck in the middle.

"I just pray that they can continue to bear with us," Roberts said.

"Fix it. Get it fixed. Get it done," said Montero.

We were waiting to hear back from the City of Harvey about the issue late Sunday.

Meanwhile, residents right now are encouraged to pick up bottled water at the Dixmoor Village Hall – until pressure is restored, which has no concrete date.