Dixmoor water main break repaired
DIXMOOR, Ill. (CBS) -- The Village of Dixmoor says a water main that broke Saturday is now fixed. It's the village's fourth repair since Monday. Saturday's water main break comes a day after a boil order in the village was lifted.
Water still pooled along the side of the street on Honore Saturday. Village leaders say the whole street flooded when a six inch water line broke.
It's a familiar sight for Dixmoor residents.
"The water is coming out brown," said one neighbor. "It doesn't even make any sense. I said, 'This is going out again? What's going on?' It has been consistently going on. This town has a problem with water."
The frustration is shared by village leaders.
"We just repaired some water mains and here we go again," said Village President Fitzgerald Roberts.
Roberts said the village is expected to get about $16 million in funding from the county, state and federal governments in about a month and a half. They will use the funds to repair their water system, but it is a drop in the bucket. He estimates they need $50 million to fix their water mains.
"It won't be enough to complete the mains that's breaking out here," he said. "Our infrastructure is very old. As I've been saying, it's over 100 years old. So now it's coming where it's going to have to be replaced."
And even after the repairs are made, some residents' distrust continues. They say they are leery of a system that never seems to work.
"I don't even drink the water," said Marcus Mixon. "You can't pay me to drink the water. Even when they say ... the boil has been lifted, I still don't drink the water. Because, I don't know, it's just a safety concern to me."
Roberts says Cook County Emergency Management and the Red Cross have been working together to provide bottled water for residents who need it.
In April 2022 the village received a $2 million check from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Cook County to help with repairs.