Problem Takes Western Springs 'Back To January'

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – For Western Springs public works crews, these summer days may bring back winter memories.

It's not the weather. Rather, it's the problems they're dealing with.

In recent weeks, Western Springs has seen a surge of water main breaks.

"It seems like we're back to January in terms of the amount," Village President Heidi Rudolph said at Monday's Village Board meeting. "I know it's a lot of work, and we really appreciate the team's dedication to this. They don't happen during business hours, I have noticed."

Matthew Supert, the village's top public works official, said Western Springs has responded to 48 water main breaks this year.

About a third of them, he said, have resulted from old service lines that were improperly abandoned. (Service lines are the pipes from the mains to buildings.)

In the next couple of months, the village plans to go out to bid to fix valves, which are contributing to some of the breaks, Supert said.

He said he would relay Rudolph's words to the public works crews.

"We get a lot of good feedback from the community," Supert said. "We actually post it on the fridge down at the public works garage, trying to keep the team positive about everything."

The crews responded to 10 main breaks in January.

In all of 2024, the village experienced 74 main breaks, a big increase from the 34 in 2020, according to the village.