Water Back In East Chicago, But Boil Order Still In Effect
EAST CHICAGO, Ind. (CBS) -- While the water has been restored in East Chicago, Ind., residents there are still being asked to boil their water for the next couple of days.
As WBBM Newsradio's Brandis Friedman reports, emergency management officials say they still have to complete testing for contamination of the city's water supply.
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A 24-inch water main at Columbus Drive and Adler Street was found to be broken around 6 a.m. Sunday, and cut off service for the entire town of 30,000 resdients.
"There wasn't one resident in the entire city that had any water pressure," said East Chicago emergency management director Herbie Cruz.
City crews worked all day Monday to install a replacement line.
Cruz says old infrastructure is to blame for the problem.
"There's really no preventative maintenance which you could have done. There's a lot of infrastructure; a lot of water lines that need to be replaced here in the city," he said.
While the water was out, the City of East Chicago hauled some 14,000 gallons of bottled water to help lines of thirsty residents in their cars, and on foot.
School was also out in East Chicago Monday because of the issues, but classes were expected to resume Tuesday.
Now, the city says residents should boil water at least five minutes before use until the boil order is lifted.
