W. Dundee, Carpentersville connect water systems

Carpentersville and West Dundee are jumping to the forefront of the public works world in building an innovative interconnect of their water systems.

The connection will allow Carpentersville to repaint its west side water tower, a project many in the village think is long overdue. Because the village must drain the water from the tower and clean the inside when it repaints, another source of water is necessary during the maintenance.

Other municipalities connect water systems for emergency services, but West Dundee and Carpentersville will connect for repair situations as well.

Both villages have only one water tower on their west sides, making maintenance tricky and leaving the west side homes vulnerable in an emergency.

According to Bob Cole, Carpentersville public works director, the options are to build a new water tower for up to $4 million, leave the west side vulnerable and hope disaster doesn't strike ... or build the interconnect.

Since the village doesn't want to gamble with west side water availability, Cole chose the $270,000 interconnect.

“We're saving taxpayers from both municipalities a lot of money,” Cole said.

The villages will insert a pipe connecting the two waters systems. Then Carpentersville will be able to take its pump out of service for the water tower project, for example, and still supply water to west side homes using West Dundee's tank. And vice versa.

The water will be metered to ensure neither municipality is giving more than the other.

The cost of the project will be split equally between Carpentersville and West Dundee with an additional $30,000 in grant money to offset the total.

“Interconnecting communities to adjacent water supplies is the ultimate insurance policy for the water department,” said Rich Babica, public works director in West Dundee. “It allows us to ensure our communities have a continuing and readily accessible source of water.”

The connection will be on Binnie Road near Randall Road.

There will be three to four months of design followed by construction in the spring. The public works directors anticipate the interconnect will be available for use by midsummer.

Cole is encouraging projects like this in surrounding communities as well.

“Since we have so many municipalities that their borders butt up to one another, why not extend that?” Cole said. “Why not have Algonquin look to Lake in the Hills, Lake in the Hills look to Crystal Lake?”

Come summer Carpentersville can look to repainting the west side water tower, a project the village has put off without an alternative water source for the maintenance period. After a few complaints about the tower, the public works department is ready to move on the project.

“I think a water tower really identifies a municipality,” Cole said. “When you have one that is dirty or needs painting, you need to get that done as soon as you can.”