Schools
Many Main Breaks In Western Springs: Study
The village's number of breaks is way over what it should be, an engineer said.
WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – Western Springs has far more water breaks than it should, with the number rising over the last few years, an engineer said this week.
In 2022, the village reported 59 main breaks. That is more than quadruple what a town with the village's number of miles of mains should have, said Carolyn Grieves of Baxter & Woodman, a Crystal Lake engineering firm.
About 40 percent of Western Springs' 52 miles of mains have been in use since 1922, which means it's time to start planning to replace them, she said.
Find out what's happening in Western Springsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"In the past couple of years, we have consistently seen an increase in main breaks within the village," Grieves told the Village Board on Monday. "As we all know, as mains continue to age, they break, they leak, they cause hazards."
Grieves presented a map in which her firm rated the mains, so the village could prepare for replacements.
Find out what's happening in Western Springsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The latest reported break in Western Springs was reported Tuesday at Woodland Avenue and Elm Street.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
