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Water line break at Rend Lake shuts off water to 60 southern Illinois communities

MARION - A major water line break at the Rend Lake Intercity Water Plant Wednesday has led to a water shortage crisis in several of the 60 communities the conservancy district serves.

Du Quoin Mayor Guy Alongi said the city's water supply was down from 1.4 million gallons to less than 400,000 gallons as of Thursday afternoon.

"We have the whole town under a boil order as this is a serious situation," the mayor said. "We have a couple of game plans we're putting together in case this shutdown would continue beyond a day or so."

One option is a water tank in Christopher, Alongi said, which could provide some temporary relief.

"A big problem should our tanks run dry is when we eventually fill the lines back up. Our lines have to be pressurized and it may lead to some leaks."

Larry Sanders, general counsel and assistant general manager of the Rend Lake Conservancy District, said the district sells water to 30 communities and those communities sell to 30 more," he said, explaining that the problem began Tuesday evening when a 36-inch steel pipe ruptured. That pipe is the main pipe that exits the plant.

"Every gallon of water that exits the plant goes through that pipe," he said.

Sanders said the rupture was on the bottom, "in a difficult place to reach." Crews worked for 12 hours attempting to repair the pipe, but were unsuccessful.

Sanders said workers are now proceeding with two different plans.

"First, we're trying to bypass the pipe and try to get a small amount of water flowing into the system," Sanders aid. "Right now, we have no water flowing into the system."

Sanders said any water that customers have right now is coming from community reserves. He said they are hoping to get enough water flowing so that communities can take care of the health and welfare of their at-risk populations.

Crews are also working to replace the broken pipe.

There is no time frame for when any part of the system may be working again properly.

"We are not making any estimate as to when those will be repaired," Sanders said.

Once the repairs are complete, it would take a day or more to have the system back at full capacity.

"Even when we do have the system pumping at full capacity, it will take us about a day to get the system rebuilt," he added.

Sanders said the district has asked communities and residents to practice water conservation starting Wednesday night.

"We are now asking all communities and at their businesses to institute their loss of water back up plans," he said.

In Benton, Mayor Fred Kondritz said that the city is operating on reserves.

"I've got to brag. We've got a ground tank and right now we have about 800,000 gallons. That gives us enough is people conserve."

Kondritz said the city has 3,519 metered households.

"We're asking people to be conservative," said Kondritz, "especially with flushing toilets, bathing, and showering."

Kondritz said the water superintendent personally visited area businesses and nursing homes to discuss the water crisis.

"People have stepped up and understand the situation," he said. "We're not telling them to close their doors right now. That's their livelihood."

Kondritz said that a major concern is fire. "If we have a house fire right now, there is no way to contain it," he said.

Sesser Mayor Jason Ashmore stated on Facebook that the city was not going to have to shut off its water supply to residents.

"We are prepared. I'm in discussions with everyone. Foodland has ordered additional water. We have some in reserve. If we continue to conserve water, we have enough water in our tank to make it through the night. Rend Lake officials are working as quickly as possible. There is no reason to panic."

Franklin County EMA Director Ryan Buckingham said residents should suspend all nonessential water-related activities such as watering gardens, car washes, swimming pools, etc. Water is currently being provided to the public from community water towers and other storage devices and the water used is not being replenished at this time. Rend Lake officials are working around the clock to make needed repairs and have stressed that water conservation is imperative at this time. Residents are also reminded that all local burning has been banned throughout Franklin County until further notice.

Marion Mayor Anthony Rinella said Thursday that schools were shutting down early and that a variety of businesses, including restaurants, hotels, and dental offices, for example, were following suit. Carwashes and laundromats were closed Wednesday. Hospitals have not been evacuated.

"We're getting no water from Rend Lake right now," Rinella said. "They're telling us that they hope to have the repairs done within 24 hours, but even if that is the case, it will probably take another 24 hours or more to fill the tanks and get back to normal production."

Rinella said the city will issue a boil order for the entire town until further notice and is observing a "strict water conservation" plan. It has also issued a "no burn" warning to residents.

"Don't water your garden or your lawn. Don't wash your car. Use as little water as possible inside your home, too," the mayor cautioned.

Local stores like Kroger, Walmart and Sam's Club were selling out of bottled water rather quickly Thursday. Rinella said weekend shows at the Marion Cultural and Civic Center were canceled and will have to be rescheduled.

The high school graduation ceremony, set for Rent One Park Thursday evening, did take place. The school district, however, had to order porta potties to accommodate the large gathering.

The Southern Illinois Miners are scheduled to play at Rent One Park Friday through Sunday. Chief Operations Officer Mike Pinto said he was in a "wait-and-see" mode for now, awaiting further word from the city.

Rinella said the water crisis is exactly what the city feared could happen at some point, which is why the city wanted to build a lake a few years ago at Sugar Creek, southeast of town. That project was put on hold following several environmental challenges.

"Hindsight's 20/20, but we've put all our eggs in the Rend Lake basket and now that basket has tipped over," Rinella said. "There are 160,000 customers either out of water or about to be out of water."

Marion is not the only city in Williamson County to take a hit. Schools and businesses were also closing in Carterville, Herrin and Johnston City. Residents there were also asked to conserve water if they were still receiving it.

Williamson County Emergency Management Agency coordinator Kelly Urhahn said that as of noon Thursday, both Carterville and Johnston City were out of water altogether.

"We're monitoring the situation with Rend Lake very closely," Urhahn said. "They're doing all they can to fix the pipe and we're doing all we can to conserve water. Other neighboring counties, however, like Jackson, Saline and Johnson aren't on Rend Lake water, so Williamson County residents can go to those areas and buy or use water. While inconvenient, this shortage is not catastrophic."

Urhahn said her department's primary concern is the life, health and safety of its citizens.

"Hospitals, urgent-care facilities, fire stations, police departments ... those are our top priorities," she said.

Urhahn added that Marion and Williamson County were in the process of declaring Williamson County a disaster area in the hope of receiving emergency state funding.

Williamson County Fire Protection District Chief Jeremy Norris issued a statement to residents within the district. He said residents can have water bottles filled at the treatment plant in Carbondale. The plant is located at 1031 S. Wall St.

Gov. Bruce Rauner issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying there have been no requests for state assistance so far, but that state agencies are actively preparing to provide support needed to ensure the public health and safety of southern Illinois residents.

"Earlier today the Illinois Emergency Management Agency convened a conference call with several state agencies and mutual aid partners to assess the whole community impacts of situation and prepare for potential deployment of state resources," Rauner's statement said.

"Our primary concern is the well-being of the people affected by this situation. I want to assure everyone affected that the state of Illinois will do everything in our power to ensure public health and safety is protected until this situation is resolved."

Marion resident Leslie Hayes loads bottled water into her vehicle Thursday after learning that the region could be without water for an undetermined time. 'I need enough for seven of us at my own home and for use at River To River residential facilities where I work," she said. Ceasar Maragni photo
The inner-workings of the Rend Lake Water District. Photo provided