Water pipeline project nearing completion in Buffalo Grove
Construction is expected to finish in about four weeks on a project expected to improve water distribution efficiency to homes in five Northwest suburbs.
Northwest Water Commission Executive Director Kevin Lookis said the roughly $5.7 million pipeline work in Buffalo Grove is similar to a project that occurred in Palatine in 2015 and 2016. It's the finalization of a pipeline looping system connecting commission members Buffalo Grove, Palatine, Arlington Heights, Wheeling and Des Plaines.
"This looping allows us to supply water to all of our member communities ... much more efficiently and also gives us the option of supplying from different directions should there be an issue at a member receiving station," Lookis said.
Lookis said the improved reliability of the water system from the project will benefit residents.
"For example, were there to be a catastrophic breakdown at the southernmost Buffalo Grove station, it would be difficult to provide water at adequate volume and pressure," he said. "The loop allows us to redirect water so that the supply can come from another station."
Lookis said installation began in June for the commission's 16-inch-diameter line to connect a water receiving facility on Arlington Heights Road near Checker Road to another off Buffalo Grove Road and LaSalle Lane, just south of Aptakisic Road. The pipeline is going north on Arlington Heights Road and will swing east on Aptakisic and south on Buffalo Grove Road.
Provided the weather stays mild, Lookis said, the job should be done in about four weeks. While detours were needed for a few weeks in a Buffalo Grove neighborhood near Route 83 and Arlington Heights Road, none are expected for the project along Aptakisic and Buffalo Grove roads.
Other work will include restoration of all public green spaces, private property and other areas the contractor may have damaged during the pipeline construction, Lookis said.
"We are very cognizant and sensitive to the neighbors where construction has taken place," Lookis said, "and we have tried to the best of our ability to be attentive to their needs and concerns."
Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen, who serves as commission board chairman, said the loop will eliminate dead-ends in the system that supplies Lake Michigan water from Evanston. It'll become "a more robust, more redundant system," he said.
In a recent presentation at an annual state of Palatine gathering, Ottesen noted residents in the five water commission towns pay some of the lowest rates per 1,000 gallons in the suburbs. For 2017-18, Palatine was at $4.05, followed by Buffalo Grove at $4.93, Wheeling at $6, Arlington Heights at $6.09 and Des Plaines at $6.82.
On the high end, Grayslake has a rate of $14.53 and Elk Grove Village $12. The average for 2017-18 is $8.14 per 1,000 gallons of water for 43 communities.