Still no water in Hawthorn Woods; Aqua Illinois says they're working on it
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The water emergency in Lake County is now on day four, forcing the shutdown of the Hawthorn Woods Village Hall and Aquatic Center.
At its peak, more than 1,200 people had their water turned off.
What started as an outage on Sunday morning has led to confusion and few answers from the water company, Aqua Illinois, as to what's behind the issue.
CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reports from Hawthorn Woods where a boil water advisory is in effect.
"I would say normal water pressure since 10 this morning."
The water is finally back on at Susan Bauer's home.
For days, she and her family have been collecting bottled water for drinking, filling their toilets, and even showering.
"Water bottles. They're all over the house," Bauer said.
Now, she's been told to boil the water in her home to make it safe to use. But she didn't hear that from her water provider, Aqua Illinois, which serves Hawthorn Woods, Kildeer, and Lake Zurich.
She heard it from a neighbor who, after days, finally got in touch with the water provider.
"To have no water, You don't expect that here. It can happen here. However, the lack of communication provided to us as consumers and customers of a local water company has been horrible," Bauer said.
But she still can't get a clear answer about the root of the issue. Aqua Illinois is a private contractor that owns the water infrastructure.
They said a leaking fire hydrant was initially believed to be the culprit. But even after that was repaired, some customers' taps still remain dry.
Then, another leak was found. One on Bauer's street.
The company is now pointing to increased holiday demand, a drought last week, and water main breaks as to what's behind the lingering shutdown. The company is promising transparency.
But some of their own customers said that has been far from the truth.
"The lack of information, the untruthfulness of the information, was very distressing," Bauer said.
The Aquatic Center itself is shut down. It's just one of the buildings impacted by the water crisis. An Aqua spokesperson said they're working around the clock to fix the problem calling this a complex issue.
Aqua Illinois said they have been reaching out to customers through their water smart alerts which is the fastest way to hear about water service disruptions.
Here's the direct link where they can sign up: https://www.aquawater.com/watersmart-alerts.php
Aqua shared the website with the entire timeline of the situation that they've shared with customers and community leaders: https://www.aquawater.com/iljuly2023communications.php"
