HILLCREST — Village of Hillcrest trustees received an update on the water system testing from engineer Jim Sparber from Baxter and Woodman. During the month of February, a handful of the village’s fire hydrants were tested. Those results were used to build a model of the system and how the water flows throughout the village.

Sparber said residential areas should be around 1,000 gallons of water per minute of flow. Although much of the village is near that level, areas in the southern portion are below.

“A fair amount of the village is performing at that value, but we do have a couple locations that are below the recommended values, in particular the very south end of the village where four-inch mains are largely serving those areas,” Sparber said. “Some are in the 600 gallon per minute ranges. That’s not horrible, we’ve seen worse, but it’s still not the ideal.”

Sparber said in the business areas of the village, the range should be somewhere between 3,000 and 3,500 gallons per minute. Most are in the range of 1,200 to 1,500 gallons per minute.

Sparber indicated there would be some further field investigation to check if some of the hydrant valves could be partially closed. Following more testing, Sparber suggested speaking with the fire protection district about the map showing the water flows, and what that means for service to the village in the event of a fire.

Trustee Jason Fore questioned what would happen in a fire event, especially if more than one fire engine responds to the call.

“A typical fire engine will pump between 1,000 to 1,250 gallons per minute,” Fore said. “In a dual response with a minimum of two engines, what happens when we open up two hydrants? How do these numbers change?”

Sparber said there would be a drop in pressure in the system.

“Those are the kinds of things we need to talk to the firefighters about and how they will respond and what it means to their ability to handle a fire,” Sparber said.

Sparber also said there was no real indication of any areas in particular that might have contributed to the rust water conditions that have plagued the village in the past, saying the pipes were “actually on the cleaner end of things.”

Water tank

The village water tank currently has a capacity of 50,000 gallons of water, which Sparber indicated is below the recommended volume. On an average day, the village consumes about 80,000 gallons.

Along with installing a larger tank, Sparber said another option would be to pursue the interconnection with Rochelle, which would provide a second source of water to the village in the event of an emergency.

Dodson reiterated in a conversation last year with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, it was recommended the village have a water tank that could hold between 175,000 and 200,000 gallons of water. Sparber said even though that would be enough for the fire demand, there would be an issue of water quality with a tank that large.

“This is the diagnosis phase. The next phase is what our potential cures are and how much they will cost,” added Sparber.

Sparber said he plans to make some recommendations at next month’s meeting.