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Tinley Park Reconsiders Watering Ban; New Lenox And Mokena Could Follow Suit

TINLEY PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- The village of Tinley Park has reconsidered a possible full outdoor watering ban, after getting some rain overnight.

Village trustee Tom Staunton told WBBM Newsradio's Michele Fiore that Saturday night's rainfall pushed the village water supply levels from below 50 percent to 60 percent.

"We're getting our water levels back up to where they should be, and with the cooler weather coming and the rain last night, it really helped us out as well," Staunton said.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Michele Fiore reports

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When the village's water supply levels fall below 50 percent, officials institute an outdoor watering ban to allow authorities to respond to possible emergencies.

"If we were to have a catastrophic fire … we want to make sure we have enough water in our tanks," Staunton said.

Staunton also credits a few other things for the decision not to impose a full watering ban.

He said repairs have now been completed on a backup generator serving the water line from Oak Lawn, allowing more lake water to be pumped to Tinley Park. That problem had led to full watering bans in nearby Mokena and New Lenox on Saturday.

Since Mokena and New Lenox buy their water from Tinley Park, they've also been given approval to drop their full watering bans, and instead impose partial watering restrictions.

In Tinley Park, watering was being allowed for odd numbered addresses on odd numbered days, and for even numbered addresses on even numbered days.

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