3 water mains break in South Chicago Heights

A rough night is in store for people living in South Chicago Heights. Residents are being told to boil their water after three water mains broke.

Village officials tell FOX 32 they hope to have the three breaks fixed by Tuesday night.

The McDonalds on Sauk Trail has with a handwritten note on the front door that reads, "temporarily closed until water pipes are fixed."

Mayor Terry Matthews spoke about the three broken water mains during a council meeting -- one on Sauk Trail near East End Avenue - causing the road to freeze over and traffic to be diverted.

Two more breaks in the lines caused the water supply to drop to such low levels, water had to be shut off to more than 75 percent of the town.

The breaks were caused by cold weather.

“When the ground freezes and expands it can cause the pipes to buckle and they crack,” Mayor Matthews said.

Public Works and two outside companies are in the process of fixing the breaks and turning the water back on, but the mayor says residents need to boil their water until Thursday.

Resident Roger Byrd says he didn't have water for several hours, so he picked up four cases of bottled water Tuesday night.

If you live in this area and want updates, you can sign up for "Code Red" - an emergency alert system. Just go to SouthChicagoHeights.com.