Rock Falls, Illinois residents were without water Tuesday, June 16, 2015.
Mayor Bill Wescott announced that they were working to slow the water flowing into the sewer system because “the current sewer system is still unable to keep up.” The city’s water was shut off at 6:30 a.m.
“Due to excess rain over the past hours, the infrastructure has been overwhelmed and cannot keep up,” the city clerk said Monday evening.
Before it was shut off, city officials had asked residents to reduce their use of toilets, sinks, and appliances that flow into the sewer system.
By Tuesday morning, bottled water was being distributed and many businesses in Rock Falls were closed because of the water outage.
Wescott said they hoped to get water service restored as early as Tuesday afternoon. However, even when service resumes, the city will be under a boil order until samples pass analysis for EPA safety.
In a later update, Mayor Wescott said pumping operations were continuing. Debris and sewage that had collected in the pump station meant the pump station motors would first have to be removed and cleaned before restarting them to restore water service.
City officials planned to distribute bottled water to residents of Rock Falls until 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 16. They will also distribute bottled water between 8 a.m. and noon Wednesday, June 17.
Bottled water and portable toilets were set up at city hall.
The Mayor of the City of Rock Falls says the city water service will be restored at 8:30pm. The entire City will be under a boil order until the water samples have been deemed safe by EPA standards.
