What to Know
- Dixmoor receives its water from the nearby city of Harvey
- Water pressure is supposed to be at 36 PSI, but has dropped to single-digits in Dixmoor
- Broken pipes have been fixed, but other issues are continuing to plague water service in the village
Officials in suburban Dixmoor say that a new issue is causing dramatic declines in water pressure in the community, and that a turbine at the village’s water facility will likely need to be replaced.
According to the latest update from village officials, water is being pumped from the city of Harvey at 35 pounds of pressure per square inch (PSI), which is the ideal amount to allow for uninterrupted water service and adequate pressure.
When that water reaches Dixmoor however, pressure has dropped to 11.2 PSI.
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The reason behind the discrepancy is an issue with the village’s turbines. While one of the turbines is functional, it cannot be used at full capacity while the water pressure from the feeder source remains low. Officials are working to resolve the issue, but a second turbine at the facility will likely need to be replaced in order for repair work to be successful.
As a result, a boil order remains in effect for village residents, and bottled water is available at Village Hall for residents.
The issues started on Thursday when the village board declared a state of emergency over water supply issues. On Saturday, officials reported that water pressure had reached the single-digits, “effectively cutting off” village residents from the village’s water supply.
Local
Several broken pipes were observed in both Harvey, which is where Dixmoor’s water comes from, and in the village itself, and while those pipes have been repaired, water pressure still has not been restored, despite officials’ confidence that it would be resolved following the repairs Monday.
No timetable has been given for how long it will take to repair the turbine issues, or to resolve the dramatic drop in water pressure between the pumping station in Harvey and the feeder source in Dixmoor.
