The Village of Hanover Park is one of seven Member communities of the Northwest Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency (NSMJAWA), which is responsible for delivering safe, clean water to our community. NSMJAWA oversees a network of over 55 miles of pipe that conveys water to its Member communities. On average, the Agency pumps 30 million gallons of Lake Michigan water to these communities daily. The Agency receives treated water from the City of Chicago.
NSMJAWA staff were informed of standing water near the I-90 and Elmhurst ramps potentially originating from its 90-inch watermain. The 90-inch watermain is the single source that delivers water to NSMJAWA’s member communities. Upon performing an exploratory excavation near the standing water, NSMJAWA confirmed the leak is on the 90-inch watermain.
To perform the necessary repair to seal the leak on the 90-inch watermain, the system needs to be temporarily shut down. During the planned system shutdown, the seven Member communities will not receive water from NSMJAWA and must rely on their backup water supply. The repair and planned system shutdown are scheduled for Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at 7:00 AM. NSMJAWA anticipates the repair work to last five days that will include site prep work, fixing the leak, and flushing the line prior to putting the system back in service. Due to the size of the watermain, 90-inch in diameter (7.5 feet), and the depth of the watermain, close to 12-ft, the repair work will be slow and challenging. The contractor plans to work round the clock to help expedite the repair work.
With the scheduled repair work beginning on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, NSMJAWA has asked its seven Member communities to keep their existing water storage reservoirs full and to activate their respective back-up water supply plans for the timeframe that the single-feed 90-inch watermain is temporarily shut down. The back-up supply, for each Member community, could be via water interconnect pipes with neighboring municipality(ies) or utilizing groundwater wells, which have been tested and maintained for such emergencies, or a combination of both backup supply options.
All NSMJAWA’s seven Member communities have backup water supply plans in place, including the Village of Hanover Park. The Village maintains approximately 6.75 million gallons of water stored in its ground reservoirs and water towers. Additionally, the Village’s back-up water supply plan utilizes interconnects with neighboring communities’ water systems and our own back-up wells. The Village has two interconnects, one with the Village of Roselle and the other with the Village of Bartlett. When these interconnects are operated, Hanover Park can receive water from the other villages' water systems. Both communities receive their water from the DuPage Water Commission, which, like NSMJAWA, receives treated Lake Michigan water from the City of Chicago. In addition to receiving water from the interconnects, the Village has four wells that can provide treated groundwater to supplement the water from the interconnects. The Village maintains and tests these systems regularly in preparation for scenarios just like this. The Village is confident that our backup water supplies will continue to meet the water demands of our residents and businesses.
The Village is confident that NSMJAWA will do everything safely and practically possible to expedite this repair work and get the system back online, so that Hanover Park and the other six Member communities are back on NSMJAWA system. NSMJAWA and each of the seven Member community share a commitment to ensure that our residents’ water remains accessible, safe and clean.