Precautionary Boil Order Lifted For Frankfort, Frankfort Square

FRANKFORT, IL — A precautionary boil order that was in effect for parts of Frankfort and Frankfort Square has been lifted as of Tuesday morning, according to the Village website.

The lifted order was for the Frankfort neighborhoods of Prairie Creek, Walnut Creek, Georgetown, Plank Trail Estates, and Hunter Woods and all unincorporated Frankfort Square areas north of the Old Plank Road Trail, east of 88th Avenue, west of Harlem, and south of Lakeside Drive.

The order had been in effect since Saturday night, after a water main break at Jameson Drive and Graceland Lane.

Director of Utilities Zachary Brown told Patch on Monday that the Village started receiving calls about reduced water pressure in the area early in the afternoon on Saturday.

"Crews were immediately dispatched to diagnose the problem," Brown said via email to Patch. "Initially, we were not sure whether the issue was related to a water main break or a problem at our production facilities."

Brown said crews ruled out an issue on the production side, and a leak detection specialist was called out to help locate what we then believed to be a water main break.

"Ultimately, a large leak was discovered near the intersection of Graceland Lane and Jamison Drive Saturday evening," Brown said. "The leak was draining into a nearby storm sewer and as such never surfaced, thus complicating the timeframe for its discovery and repair."

Brown said the Illinois EPA mandates that a boil order be issued when pressure in the system drops below 20 psi.

During the investigation of the leak, crews were monitoring the pressure leaving the water treatment plan on Graceland Lane just north of Frankfort Square Road, Brown said.

"At no time during the incident did the pressure leaving the water treatment plant drop below 30 psi, however at approximately 9 p.m. [Saturday] we decided to issue a boil order for the entire area out of abundance of caution," Brown said.

Water samples were sent to the lab for processing, and a 24-hour evaluation period was required, so the Village was unable to lift the boil order until Tuesday morning.