Big Leak Plugged In La Grange

LA GRANGE, IL — La Grange recently plugged a big leak in its water system. It was blamed for causing the percentage of unaccounted-for water to rise to 25 percent.

On Monday, Ryan Gillingham, the village's public works director, said crews were able to plug the leak at La Grange Road and Harris Avenue. The leak's flow rate was 150 gallons a minute, he said.

At 150 gallons a minute, the total daily loss was 216,000 gallons of water, which would serve the equivalent of 2,160 people a day, based on the U.S. government's average of individual consumption. No La Grange resident's water service was affected.

"We are confident we found a major leak in our system," Gillingham told the village board Monday.

The village repaired a significant main break at La Grange and Harris on Jan. 27. The leak was draining into a nearby storm sewer, so it was not identifiable at the roadway surface, Gillingham said in an email to Patch.

"The exact impact to the overall amount of water lost within the distribution system is unknown," he said. "The village will continue to identify water leaks and make repairs as quickly as possible to deliver safe drinking water as efficiently as possible to village residents."

With its success, the village hopes to reduce the unaccounted-for rate. As recently as 2017, it was 15 percent. That is seen as more typical for a water system where some mains date back 120 years. According to the U.S. EPA, the leakage in public water systems averages at 16 percent.

Village crews worked extensively to find the leak, Gillingham said. At night, they looked into sewer manholes to determine if unusual flows existed, he said.

When water is lost through leaks or inaccuracies in billing or meters, the system's other users end up paying for this accounted-for supply in the long run. La Grange gets its supply from neighboring McCook, which receives it from Chicago.