American Illinois Water plans to spend $1.5 million on Centreville’s supply system

Illinois American Water plans to replace over 6,000 feet of water main in Centerville, the company said this week. The water main is nearly 70 years old.

The company’s water main replacement program is geared toward fixing mains that need to be resized or have leaks. The company said it will spend nearly $1.5 million to increase the water main’s size to support water flow and pressure for quality water supply.

Construction began last month and includes the following areas:

• N. 68th Street, between Ames Drive and Russell Avenue
• Park Place, between Russell Avenue and N. 70th Street
• Elm Street, between Park Place and Lake Drive
• N. 72nd Street, between Lake Drive and Park Place
• N. 74th Street, Edna Street, Le Chateau Square, and Pershing Street

The water main installation was scheduled to begin earlier this year, but was delayed due to the pandemic, according to the press release. The utility sent a letter to customers affected by the replacement project describing its impact.

“Like other water systems across the country, our water infrastructure is reaching the end of its useful life span,” Joe Alhvin, senior operations manager for Illinois American Water, said in a press release. “Strategic investments support continued reliable water service today and for future generations.”

Replacement of the water main is set to be finished by the end of January. Customer service lines will be connected to the new main during the project’s second phase.

Centreville, a Black-majority population, is the poorest city in Illinois. For decades, residents in the area have raised questions about the community’s aging infrastructure.

The most serious complaints have been about its eroding sewage and stormwater system, which they say has helped cause extensive flooding in homes whenever there’s heavy rainfall. The issue has led to a lawsuit against the government officials and public support from U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, who described it as an “urgent public health crisis”.

This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 11:47 AM.

DeAsia Paige

Belleville News-Democrat

DeAsia Paige joined the Belleville News-Democrat as a Report for America corps member in 2020. She’s a community reporter covering East St. Louis and surrounding areas. DeAsia previously interned with VICE and The Detroit Free Press. She graduated from The University of Kansas in 2020.