Click here to read our responses to questions from municipal leaders.

Click here to read answers to additional questions that were posed during our 7/31 meeting.

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You can click here to see a full list of our customer communications on this issue. 

Please use the process found here for submitting specific claims related to the Hawthorn Woods water outage incident, which spanned July 2, 2023 through July 9, 2023.

Sunday, July 2:

• We began experiencing a dramatic drop in water pressure across these systems on Sunday, July 2. Our team distributed a conservation notice, as we suspected the drought conditions were playing a role, and we asked customers to conserve water.  
• Due to low pressure, we issued a precautionary boil water advisory on Sunday until our testing could confirm the water is safe to consume, which is typical protocol.  

Monday, July 3:

• On the morning of Monday, July 3, we identified a leak in a commercial property connected to our system.  Once it was isolated, we were able to successfully restore water service to all three systems.  
• A few hours later, we began seeing additional pressure issues in the three systems, which we believe were caused by a separate leak. Our wells were unable to provide enough water during the increased demand, so could not catch up our supply and pressurize the system during the day.   
• Hawthorn Woods began providing bottled water to residents Monday. 

Tuesday, July 4:

• Our teams worked overnight to address the pressure issues, and we saw some progress with our system pressure stabilizing. However, increased morning demand caused pressure to drop once again. As a result, customers continued to experience low pressure and intermittent outages Tuesday as we continued to troubleshoot. 
• We are working with multiple contractors and crews to continue to identify and fix leaks. 
• We began to truck in water from elsewhere in the Aqua regional system to help increase our water supply and fill our storage tank 
• We began distributing bottled water on Tuesday, July 4 and will continue to do so until the situation is resolved. 

Wednesday, July 5:

• Due to focused operations and continued work on leaks overnight, our system began to stabilize.
• Water service began to resume for customers Wednesday morning, and more regained service, and pressure, throughout the day.
• We addressed a broken service line on S. Tournament Drive in Hawthorn woods that shut down a small group of 60 households on Wednesday afternoon; service was restored in the evening to all but two customers due to the storm.
• Due to a lightning and severe thunderstorm warning, we closed the water distribution center early for the safety of our customers and team members.

Thursday, July 6:

• The system is continuing to stabilize. A vast majority of our customers have water at acceptable pressure levels, and we believe that number will continue to grow today if there are no unexpected changes in the system or sudden increases in demand.
• We need our water reserves to continue to increase before we can test to ensure the safety of our water. As a result, we expect the boil water advisory to stay in effect through the weekend. We will continue to provide bottled water at the Hawthorn Aquatic Center until the boil water advisory has been lifted. 
• To support our system stabilization, water conservation from commercial and retail customers remains essential. Every drop counts and we are, in partnership with the Village of Hawthorn Woods, requiring that residents eliminate all sprinkler usage until further notice.  

Friday, July 7:

• We have all available resources focused on fixing this situation. We are still assessing conditions throughout this large system, and we don't have an estimate at this time of when the challenges will be fully addressed.

Saturday, July 8:

• We discovered and isolated what we assess to be a significant leak in our system at the property of Spencer Loomis Elementary School, and collected water samples needed for testing and submittal to regulatory authorities to remove the Boil Water Advisory.

Sunday, July 9:

• We lifted our boil water advisory, after water quality tests from a third-party lab indicate that our water is safe for use and meets the necessary approval by the Illinois EPA.  

Tuesday, July 11:

• We lifted the lawn watering ban, after continuous close monitoring of our system reported that the stability continues to remain strong. Please return to the previous lawn sprinkling schedule for the summer season. 

• Bottled water is being provided for ALL Aqua residents impacted by this service issue at the Hawthorn Aquatic Center, 94 Midlothian Road, Hawthorn Woods, IL 60047 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. We will continue providing water until this situation is completely resolved. We will deliver water for customers with a hardship or extenuating circumstances.
• A boil water advisory will remain in place until our supply increases and tests indicate our water is safe to consume.  
• We provide regular updates through our WaterSmart text and email alerts and encourage all customers to sign up: https://www.aquawater.com/watersmart-alerts.php 
• In the case of a fire, we have the tools and water supply to help with fire protection efforts.