Five Water Main Breaks Over Past Weekend

Western Springs Public Works was kept busy over the past weekend as five water main leaks or breaks were reported in the Village, the latest in a spring and summer that has seen nearly unprecedented frequency of such breaks.

J.U.L.I.E. (the Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators) reported breaks at the following times and locations:

• 5711 Crestview Dr.—Saturday, 1:23 am
• 4140 Ellington Ave.—Saturday, 8:52 am
• 5739 Ridgewood Dr.—Saturday, 9:06 am
• 4216 Central Ave.—Sunday, 10:40 am
• 4201 Ellington Ave—Sunday, 9:11 pm

The locations include two in Field Park, two in Ridgewood and one in Old Town North. The Public Works Department repaired all the breaks.

“We think [the breaks] are due to the dry conditions and the hot weather,” Trustee Suzanne Glowiak said at Monday evening’s Board of Trustees meeting. “Hopefully they will not continue.”

Director of Municipal Services Matt Supert said that his department is busily charting the water main breaks and comparing the data with previous years, noting that breaks this year are comparable to 1995, the year of an infamous Chicago heat wave.

“There is no way to definitely correlate the heat and the main breaks, but the evidence seems to be pointing that way,” Supert said.

Supert also noted that neighboring communities are seeing similarly elevated numbers of water-main breaks this year.