The City of Rock Falls shut off its water supply due to a sewage problem.
Around 3 p.m. on Thursday, February 13, 2014, Rock Falls had its water supply shut off. Crews worked around the clock pumping out 190,000 gallons of sewage just to figure out what went wrong. They are calling the problem a pump failure, due to the power being out.
Rock Falls residents were left without simple necessities like drinking water or the ability to wash their hands or flush toilets.
“I was going to take a shower and I just noticed drip drip, and we all were kind of panicking because nobody knew what was going on,” said Rock Falls resident," said Misty Cushing.
Businesses were forced to close-up early.
“This has never happened before,” said Arthur’s Deli manager, Lacey Gooeill. “We can’t wash our hands, then our yogurt machines are down, the pop machines, we can’t do the dishes.”
Any businesses that serve food will not reopen until the problem is resolved. Friday morning, Mayor Bill Wescott announced that water was restored around 8:30.
The city still has four locations that residents can visit to get bottled water. Those locations are Rock Falls High School, Rock Falls Middle School, Rock Falls Community Building, and Thome Elementary School.
Schools in Rock Falls did not have school on Friday. The American Red Cross will be in Rock Falls until 8 p.m. Friday for anyone who needs assistance.