The Village of Skokie is a northern suburb of Chicago operating a water distribution system spanning approximately 180 miles of pipe. The Village purchases its treated water from the City of Evanston, making every gallon lost to leaks or system inefficiencies a direct cost to the community. Like many established Midwest water systems, Skokie’s infrastructure reflects decades of growth, with a predominantly metallic pipe network and an active lead service line replacement program underway.
Prior to McKim & Creed’s involvement, the Village had already established a District Metered Area (DMA) system, initially dividing the distribution network into five monitored zones. In 2022, McKim & Creed inherited and evaluated the existing DMA configuration, identifying opportunities to streamline operations. The two northern zones — covering the system’s most problematic area — were consolidated into a single northern DMA in the fall of 2023, reducing system maintenance costs by 30 percent while maintaining comprehensive monitoring coverage.
This refinement resulted in the four-zone configuration that remains in place today.
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