Skokie declares public-health emergency after Feb. 14 water main failure; boil order lifted after testing

Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen and village staff declared a public-health emergency after a Feb. 14 failure of two primary water transmission mains at East Prairie Road and Emerson Street, mobilizing the village’s emergency operations center and activating county and state emergency-management support.

Village Manager John Lockerbie opened the Feb. 18 presentation by asking the board to approve “a resolution declaring an emergency affecting the public health due to the transmission water break...at East Prairie Road and at Emerson Street on Friday, 02/14/2025,” and said the declaration makes resources available through county and state emergency management.

Public Works Director Max Slankard gave a detailed account of the break. He said the village’s two 36-inch mains provide the vast majority of Skokie’s daily water flow and that the failure was reported about 5:15 a.m. Friday when police observed water in the roadway. The village activated its emergency operations center at 7:12 a.m. and convened at 7:30 a.m. to coordinate response.

Slankard described the repair timeline: contractors began work Friday evening, crews restored supply from Evanston by about 9:10 p.m., and system repressurization permitted water-quality sampling beginning Saturday…