Any ideas on what I can do?
On Thursday, September 13th, I sat in the gymnasium of Schiesher school in Lisle, and was told by Thomas Freeman, the fire chief that serves my area that he cannot help me or any of my fellow 400 residents in the event of a fire in our neighborhood. The reason: zero water pressure in the hydrants.
I moved to Lisle just over a year ago, and have been slowly learning how fraught with problems the water service to my area is. I could cite you all the facts, but not as eloquently as the Daily Herald or Lisle Sun could if you care to go to their websites and search on Illinois American Water. Just to make concrete the problem we face, I will share with you the facts that terrify me the most, and have moved Lisle's leadership to do nothing:
• There is not sufficient pressure in the fire hydrants for the fire department to put out a fire. There was recently a structure that burned to the ground down the street from me because firefighters opened the nearest hydrant and found it did not work.
• There are 2 schools in this neighborhood (Schiesher elementary and Lisle Junior High School) served by this system that would be destroyed in the event of a fire. Chief Freeman stated that even if he were able to combine the last reported pressure in the 8 hydrants around one of the schools, that would not meet the minimum 3000 pounds of pressure he needs to fight a fire.
• The Chief Freeman shared that he received boil orders for my neighborhood on an average of every three days. I have received exactly 2 boil order notices in the year that I have lived in Lisle. One I received minutes after getting off the phone with Illinois American Water and being told that I was NOT under a boil order.
• The most appalling of all the things I have learned is that when the residents here have complained to the village, they were told to get an attorney and sue Illinois American Water on their own. This is offensive to me as an American, let alone someone who pays approximately three times what residents of Lisle on the Village of Lisle's waters system do.
This is all in the face of some very public reporting of the above facts, including a piece that aired on Channel 2 (WBBM) news in Chicago.
At the core of this matter is a contract between the Village of Lisle and Illinois American water. The contract states that Illinois American Water must maintain minimum standards of water quality and pressure, and that if they do not, the contract is subject to termination if the standards are not met.
I moved to Lisle just over a year ago, and have been slowly learning how fraught with problems the water service to my area is. I could cite you all the facts, but not as eloquently as the Daily Herald or Lisle Sun could if you care to go to their websites and search on Illinois American Water. Just to make concrete the problem we face, I will share with you the facts that terrify me the most, and have moved Lisle's leadership to do nothing:
• There is not sufficient pressure in the fire hydrants for the fire department to put out a fire. There was recently a structure that burned to the ground down the street from me because firefighters opened the nearest hydrant and found it did not work.
• There are 2 schools in this neighborhood (Schiesher elementary and Lisle Junior High School) served by this system that would be destroyed in the event of a fire. Chief Freeman stated that even if he were able to combine the last reported pressure in the 8 hydrants around one of the schools, that would not meet the minimum 3000 pounds of pressure he needs to fight a fire.
• The Chief Freeman shared that he received boil orders for my neighborhood on an average of every three days. I have received exactly 2 boil order notices in the year that I have lived in Lisle. One I received minutes after getting off the phone with Illinois American Water and being told that I was NOT under a boil order.
• The most appalling of all the things I have learned is that when the residents here have complained to the village, they were told to get an attorney and sue Illinois American Water on their own. This is offensive to me as an American, let alone someone who pays approximately three times what residents of Lisle on the Village of Lisle's waters system do.
This is all in the face of some very public reporting of the above facts, including a piece that aired on Channel 2 (WBBM) news in Chicago.
At the core of this matter is a contract between the Village of Lisle and Illinois American water. The contract states that Illinois American Water must maintain minimum standards of water quality and pressure, and that if they do not, the contract is subject to termination if the standards are not met.
posted by Zach at 4:52 PM
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