Joliet launches $3 million water project in Preston Heights area
The city of Joliet on Tuesday announced the start of a water main replacement project for the old Southeast Joliet Sanitary District.
The project begins as city officials deal with complaints from residents in the area that they have seen an increased number of water main breaks since the city took over the system in February.
On Tuesday, the City Council is slated to vote on an emergency program that would make showers at the Nowell Park Recreation Center available to residents of the old water district during extended water outages.
The $3 million infrastructure project already was in the works when Preston Heights residents came to the July 7 council meeting to call for some sort of relief from the outages due to water main breaks.
The council approved the contract for the job on June 2.
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A construction crew in Joliet works on a previous water main project in the city shown in this file photo. (Gary Middendorf/Gary Middendorf)
The project will replace key water mains “improving system reliability and laying the foundation for future improvements benefitting more than 700 households in the Preston Heights neighborhood and surrounding areas of unincorporated Joliet Township,” according to a city news release announcing the project.
Nearly all of the area served by the former Southeast Joliet Sanitary District is outside Joliet city limits.
The city agreed to take over the failing water system in partnership with Will County, which is providing $15.7 million in funding over 10 years for improvements of the aging waterworks.
“When the city agreed to take over this system, we made a commitment to residents that we would invest in its future,” Joliet Utilities Director Allison Swisher said in the release. “This project delivers on that commitment by replacing aging infrastructure and improving the reliability of water service for the families who depend on it every day.”
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Joliet Utilities Director Allison Swisher (Gary Middendorf — gmiddendorf@shawnedia.com/Gary Middendorf)
Swisher at the July 7 council meeting said the project should lead to fewer water outages in Preston Heights. She acknowledged the number of outages in the former Southeast Joliet Sanitary District was high – 33 water main breaks in a period of time when there were 72 citywide.
The city does not have records from the Southeast Joliet Sanitary District showing how many water main breaks occurred before the city took over the system, Swisher said.
The city took over the sanitary district after its board determined it “was unable to fund the critical infrastructure improvements needed to guarantee the long-term, stable delivery of safe drinking water to its customers,” according to the release. “The District also determined that it did not wish to sell its system to a private operator.”
Joliet has taken over other failing sanitary districts in unincorporated areas bordering the city, typically through agreements with Will County.
In 2017, the city took over the former South Ridgewood Sanitary District and Greenfield Sanitary District. In 2019, Joliet took over the sanitary district serving the Fairmont area.
More information about the Southeast Joliet Sanitary District transition to Joliet water is available on the city website at www.joliet.gov/SEJSD.
Information about the construction project is available at www.joliet.gov/construction-zone. Residents with questions may contact the Utilities Department at 815-724-4220.