Water Main Break Shuts Off Service To Neighbors In Norwood Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 12-inch water main break caused headaches Monday morning for residents of the Northwest Side's Norwood Park neighborhood.
As CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, the water main broke late Sunday night on Nagle Avenue near Catalpa Avenue, in a residential area near the Kennedy Expressway. About three blocks have been closed due to the repair job.
Since the main broke, crews have been out digging up a section of it.
Chicago Department of Water Management spokesman Tom LaPorte said there are no reports of damage to homes or water seeping into homes. He said some homes might have had their water shut off temporarily.
"It's been kind of complicated because there's no running water, but I mean, I bottled some water up last night and everything because it happened at about 6 o'clock last night – 6 or 7, it started, I think," said Norwood Park resident Anthony Segreti. "They just said, well, it would probably be a while because they didn't know if it was an old main. I wanted to know if it was old or not – if it was going to break again – because a guy to doors down had said it broke, like, two years ago."
The cause of the main break is unknown, but LaPorte points out that the main is likely about 100 years old – considerably older than the midcentury houses above it.
To reach the water main, crews had to dig a deep, broad hole in the street. By 6:30 a.m., they had laid the new pipe.
But CBS 2's Kris Habermehl says there is still plenty of work to be done. The new pipe must be pressure tested and backfilled, and during that time, motorists who use Nagle Avenue south of the Kennedy should find another route.
LaPorte says it could take all morning, and even into the afternoon, to repair the main.
