FRANKFORT, IL — Parts of Frankfort and Frankfort Square remain under a boil order after a water main break on Saturday.
Residents reached out to Patch and shared on social media about communication delays from the Village of Frankfort, which didn’t notify nearby residents until 9 p.m. Saturday.
Residents expressed concerns about drinking water on Saturday, and a performance of “High School Musical, Jr.” at Summit Hill Junior High was canceled Saturday night due to a lack of water pressure and fire systems at the school.
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The boil order is applicable to the Frankfort neighborhoods of Prairie Creek, Walnut Creek, Georgetown, Plank Trail Estates, Hunter Woods and all unincorporated Frankfort Square areas north of the Old Plank Road Trail, east of 88th Avenue, west of Harlem and south of Lakeside Drive, according to the Village website.
Director of Utilities Zachary Brown told Patch that the Village started receiving calls about reduced water pressure in the area early in the afternoon on Saturday.
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“Crews were immediately dispatched to diagnose the problem,” Brown said via email to Patch. “Initially, we were not sure whether the issue was related to a water main break or a problem at our production facilities.”
Brown said crews ruled out an issue on the production side, and a leak detection specialist was called out to help locate what we then believed to be a water main break.
“Ultimately, a large leak was discovered near the intersection of Graceland Lane and Jamison Drive Saturday evening,” Brown said. “The leak was draining into a nearby storm sewer and as such never surfaced, thus complicating the timeframe for its discovery and repair.”
Brown said the Illinois EPA mandates that a boil order be issued when pressure in the system drops below 20 psi.
During the investigation of the leak, crews were monitoring the pressure leaving the water treatment plan on Graceland Lane just north of Frankfort Square Road, Brown said.
“At no time during the incident did the pressure leaving the water treatment plant drop below 30 psi, however at approximately 9 p.m. [Saturday] we decided to issue a boil order for the entire area out of abundance of caution,” Brown said.
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The leak was isolated and pressure was restored, except for Graceland Lane, where the water was turned off entirely, Brown said.
As of Monday, the Village shared on its website that the water main break had been repaired and samples were sent to the lab. A 24-hours evaluation period is required for testing, so the boil order remains in effect as of Monday evening.
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