Proyecto de agua de Lincolnwood

The City will be installing new City water meters for all Lincolnwood residents. The default meter size is 5/8”. This is the most common meter size in the City’s service area and also comes with the lowest monthly rate. The City does not anticipate the reduction from Lincolnwood’s existing 1” meters to a 5/8” meter will have impacts to your indoor water pressure. Meter sizing primarily impacts high-flow instantaneous demand, such as fire sprinklers or high-flow irrigation systems. Here are some items to consider with your meter sizing:

•  If your property has a home fire suppression system (fire sprinklers) please consult with your fire sprinkler contractor to determine what meter size is appropriate for your system.
• For properties with irrigation systems with nine or more high flow (2+ gallons per minute) pop-up sprinkler head nozzles on a single zone, consider replacing those sprinkler heads with more efficient sprinkler head nozzles (0.5 – 1.0 gallons per minute), or split that high flow zone into two zones. Alternatively, you may consider a larger meter size.
• You are always welcome to consult with a plumber about your private plumbing system and meter sizing concerns. The technical meter specifications with flow rates can be shared with your contractor/plumbing professional. The City uses models M25, M35, and M55 on that document. 

There are options to change your meter sizing after it is installed, if needed:

• If a 5/8” water meter is installed and afterward you decide to upsize your meter, you will be charged an installation fee of approximately $400 to upsize the meter. You have one year (until September 30, 2023) to request to upsize your meter without having to pay capacity charges. After that date, you will have to pay both installation fees and capacity charges effective at the time of the size change request. These fees are currently around $22,000 for a 1” meter and will likely increase over time.
• If after meter installation you determine that you would like to reduce your meter size, you will need to pay the fee associated with meter reductions in effect at the time of the reduction request. Those fees are currently approximately $400. There are no capacity charges associated with meter size reductions.

Your existing LMWC water meter will be left in place. If you prefer, you can have your LMWC water meter removed at your own expense. Please see the diagram of the metering configuration with your existing meter and new City meter.

Monthly Service Charges
Your water bill will be composed of two components, (1) volumetric charges based on water usage, and (2) a fixed monthly service charge that scales based on meter size. The fixed monthly service charges currently in effect are below.

One of Lincolnwood Mutual Water Company's (LMWC) two wells failed due to nitrate contamination and LMWC received a letter from the County Department of Public Health in 2018 urging LMWC to secure a backup supply.  An existing 1979 agreement between the City and LMWC provides the City with the option to assume ownership of Lincolnwood’s water system and infrastructure, and have the Lincolnwood neighborhood become City water customers. After over a year of discussions between the City and LMWC representatives, LMWC shareholders voted to connect to the City's water system. City staff presented the preferred path of the LMWC shareholders to the Water Commission on February 18, 2021 who agreed with the recommendation to connect LMWC to the City's system. On March 23, 2021 City Council voted to enact the option to assume ownership of Lincolnwood’s water system and connect the Lincolnwood neighborhood to the City water system. As part of the agreement with LMWC, the City is waiving connection charges, which ordinarily would total approximately $14,000 per property.

The transition process will involve making three connections to the City’s water main on Hope Avenue, and installing 61 City water meters in the public right-of-way to serve each property. The City will also be replacing water main valves at each neighborhood intersection to improve system control and reliability. 

• Beginning in September, you will see you will see spray painted underground utility markings in the street to ensure construction avoids interference with other utilities.
• Next, neighborhood water main valves will be replaced in the intersections by a combination of Lash Construction and City crews. A neighborhood-wide water service shutdown will occur, see the Water Service Shutdowns section below for more information.
• Then, our crews will work in blocks, installing new City water meters in the sidewalk in front of each property per City standards. We expect meter installation for each block to take approximately one week to complete. During this period, one side of the sidewalk will be inaccessible and parking will be restricted along that sidewalk during work hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday). “No Parking” signs will be posted 72 hours in advance, helping to remind you that work will be underway, and traffic controls will be in place to ensure there is property access and pedestrian safety. Two water service shutdowns per block will occur, see the Water Service Shutdowns section below for more information.
• Once all the work has been completed, City water will begin flowing to all of Lincolnwood simultaneously, and your metered water use will start to be recorded. 

Water Service Shutdowns

Water service will remain active during the majority of the project. However, there will be three planned shutdowns when water service will be unavailable for up to 8 hours. We will provide 48 hour advance notification of any planned water service shutdowns via email (if provided) and door hangers. 

• The water main valves in the Lincolnwood system are due for replacement. Replacing the valves will require a system-wide water shutdown in late-September, during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Replacing all the valves in one shutdown will minimize the number of shutdowns. 
• Following the system-wide shutdown, two more water shutdowns will occur for each block and will last one full workday for meter installations, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. You  will receive a door hanger notification for the specific day of each shutdown 48 hours in advance.  

After the shutdowns, crews will do their best to flush the water system.  However, you may experience temporary discolored or cloudy water. This is easily resolved by using an outside hose bib to run water for 10 to 15 seconds, turn the water off for a few minutes, and repeat the process until water runs clear. Run the cold-water faucets inside your home using this same process until the water runs clear.