KEWANEE, Ill. — Kewanee residents now have running water again after contractors fixed a broken water valve on a 12-inch pipe that broke Saturday afternoon, but it was the City of Kewanee's lack of observed communication that had residents upset.
"We have the text alert setup on our phone," said 28-year-old mother Emily Lindbom. "So that way, if something's going on in the city, they can text us. We haven't gotten anything."
She said it was worrisome coming home Saturday night to find no running water and no notice from the city's alert system.
"It's scary not knowing when you're going to get more water or if Hy-Vee or Walmart has enough water, especially here in town."
She's not the only person who believes the city could have done a better job at communicating what was going to residents as gallons of water flooded out onto the 600 block of Page Street.
"The Facebook post from the Mayor of the city isn't bathing my kids," Lindbom's neighbor, Michael Sturdevant, told News 8's Collin Riviello. "There's been nothing. Like I said, a couple of Facebook posts. And that's it."
Another Kewanee resident who did not want to be named said not everyone uses Facebook and it "is unfortunate because a lot of people do not utilize social media."
According to the City of Kewanee's Facebook page, four updates were given between when the initial water pipe break notice was given to residents on the evening of April 15 and when contractors had finished installing the new valve on the afternoon of April 17.
Even fewer updates were given on the City of Kewanee's official website.
Kewanee Mayor Gary Moore said an outside company was installing fiber cables when it deviated from the dig plan and hit the water pipe around noon on Saturday, April 15.
"They accidentally hit one of our 12-inch water main valves, which naturally caused the water to be leaking and had to be shut down," Moore said. "And we had approximately 150-160 residents that went without water for approximately 48 hours."
Moore said there were precautionary plans in place to prevent something like this from happening, but "when they're not followed, that's when these accidents happen."
Even then, some residents wanted to know why there wasn't an extra valve somewhere as a backup. It turns out, the City of Kewanee did have one — though it hasn't been used in decades.
"From the information I received quite some time ago, we were told that we had to get rid of that valve by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency because it had sat for so long," Moore said. "It sat for more than 50 years without being used. That's how infrequently these valves are changed."
He says the valve costs more than $10,000 and that "it wasn't economically feasible to keep that kind of money sitting around."
Many residents, however, differ from that viewpoint.
"I would hope that they would learn from this and see how disappointed the residents are," Lindbom said. "Because it's a wonderful town. We just feel kind of let down with this situation."
Moore says the company who hired the contractors that damaged the pipe has agreed to pay for all related costs.
Affected Kewanee residents have been advised by the City of Kewanee to boil water until further notice.
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