Robbins residents left with little or no water service on Thanksgiving Day
ROBBINS, Ill. (CBS) -- Imagine preparing your Thanksgiving feast without good water service – or with no running water at all.
That is exactly what some people in south suburban Robbins say they're dealing with. As CBS 2's Asal Rezaei reported Thursday, a water main break earlier this week left people there with little or no running water.
At least 100 homes are impacted.
Public works crews in Robbins started their holiday off going door-to-door and dropping cases of water to residents like Stephanie Lloyd.
'It's terrible for Thanksgiving," Lloyd said. "You can't wash your turkey or anything, or your vegetables for Thanksgiving."
Village officials repressurized the water system after a main break near 136th Street and Pulaski Road on Tuesday. But for more than 24 hours now, many people have still been without water – and those who do have running water say it comes out at a very low pressure.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant called the situation a water crisis and a public safety issue.
"We are responding on this holiday and answering the citizens' needs," Bryant said.
He has called on state leaders for help after engineers quoted the village $40 million to get their infrastructure up to par.
"I'm calling on the governor, I'm calling on the state senators, I'm calling on Jesus - I'm calling on anybody who I can get a hold of to get some remedies to the people," Bryant said.
Bryant emphasized that Robbins is not alone in its water infrastructure problems, and called on multiple levels of government to take action.
"I'm asking that Mayor Lightfoot and that the congressmen and women of the U.S. Congress and senators come together for a solution - not just for Robbins, but communities around the nation that suffer from the same situation," he said.
Robbins resident Quintiana Blake expressed the challenges involved with being without water on Thanksgiving Day.
"It's actually really difficult," she said. "Not only because Thanksgiving, but you can't really cook without water. And then when you have kids at home, a lot more difficult because you have to care for your kids - baths, showers."
For now, neighbors said they are doing their best with the cases of water they've been getting. Rezaei asked Blake about her reaction to having bottled water dropped off this Thanksgiving Day.
"I was shocked, actually," she said. "But I'm grateful, because you know anything can help - but hopefully, they get it together."
As village officials continue to work to repressurize the water system, they are hoping the water comes back on in full force by either later Thursday, or Friday at the latest.
