McCook hopes study stops loss of 5 million gallons of water monthly

By Steve Metsch

The village of McCook hopes a study will determine where it is losing 5 million gallons of water monthly.

The leak was determined when the village, which buys water from Chicago, didn’t sell as many gallons as were coming in, Mayor Terrance Carr said.

“We sell roughly 170 million gallons of water a month,” Carr said. “The numbers didn’t jive.”

While 5 million may not seem much compared to 170 million, it costs McCook lots of money.

“We lose $250,000 a year if we don’t fix the problem,” he said. “We’re going to fix the problem.”

The board unanimously approved paying Advanced Technical Services no more than $20,000 to find and repair the leak or leaks.

“It’s 20 grand to find the problem, but who knows where it’s at?” he said.

“We have 111,000 feet roughly of water pipe underground. right now, we’re losing about 5 million gallons a month somewhere. We can’t find it. They’ll come out, find it, repair the leak,” Carr said during the Feb. 6 village board meeting.

The contract starts at $10,000 and then costs $450 for each leak found and fixed, up to $20,000, he said.

“We fall in between the threshold where we don’t have to do anything. I am a businessman and I’m going to operate the water department like a business. That’s why we’re doing this,” Carr said.

The company uses sound waves to find the leak or leaks, Carr said.

The study is expected to take about a week, he said.

The board also approved an agreement to pay TruGreen Commercial no more than $6,000 to service the grounds outside the village hall and on parkways.

“People don’t realize the village owns the parkways. I like green grass,” Carr said.

The board approved paying no more than $700 for Deputy Police Chief David DeLeshe to attend an alarm system conference in Champaign March 27 to 29.