As repairs continue on a broken water main in Skokie, village officials on Saturday said they've found no sign that Friday's incident was caused by nearby construction the day before.

More than 24 hours after that break flooded several blocks, the village and its residents were still hard at work on Saturday fixing the broken main and cleaning up the huge mess left behind before it completely freezes over.

The village started refilling the water system Friday night, which means water began flowing through taps again in Skokie.

Public Works crews were busy all through the night, and were still making repairs on Saturday afternoon, after a massive and destructive water main break near Prairie Road and Emerson Street.

Officials said crews have determined a fitting cap on a major water transmission main failed, causing the break, and a replacement part was being installed Saturday evening. There was no indication that the fitting cap failure was caused by any construction work that was being done in the same area the day before the pipe broke.

The water main break flooded several streets, with the water soon turning to slush and ice, though higher temperatures on Saturday were keeping the water that was still flooding streets, alleys, and yards from completely freezing.

Ever since the water main broke, Michael Perry has been inundated with the noise of heavy construction machinery and news helicopters.

"Yeah, we're getting used to it now," he said.

Perry lives on Emerson Street directly across from the crew that's been working to fix the large water main that broke early Friday morning.

"It looked like Lake Michigan running past the front of the house," he said.

The water flowed past his home, flooding streets, yards, garages and basements before freezing over.

"I could see our neighbors' cars covered with the water," he said.

Jannette Ramirez's trusty Subaru is now rusty.

"It's totaled. Totaled. That's it," she said. "That rust was not there before."

The water topped the tires and made it inside. Ramirez said she believes several cars parked on Bennett Avenue suffered the same fate.

"It was horrible. It was a nightmare," she said.

She's now without a car, and like many of her neighbors went nearly a full day without water.

"Only today did we get a trickle," she said. 

"They just turned the water on just about 10 minutes ago. I'm letting it run," Perry said.

As water pressure in Skokie increases, a boil order is still in effect.

People impacted in Skokie and parts of neighboring Evanston can pick up bottled water from the Robert Crown Community Center. Bottled water also will be distributed at Sketchbook Brewing, 4901 Main St., between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, or while supplies last.

Village officials estimated 25,000 bottles of water have been distributed since the boil order was put in place on Friday.

It's still unclear when repairs to the main will be completed and water pressure in Skokie will be back to normal, but village officials said the water system reached the minimum necessary water pressure to sampling and testing as of 5 p.m. Saturday.

The village said two water samples need to be taken, tested, and come back clean 24 hours apart before the boil order can be lifted, meaning the boil order will remain in place at least until Sunday evening.

Until then, people in Skokie should continue to boil tap water for at least five minutes before using it for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, or preparing food – or use bottled water instead. Tap water can be used for flushing toilets, showering, or washing hands, but people are advised to apply hand sanitizer as a precaution after drying their hands.

"I'm glad this is being taken care of," Perry said.

Meantime, the village urged residents to avoid any non-essential water use to reduce demand on the system until it is fully repaired.

A boil water order also had been issued for parts of Evanston on Friday after the water main break in Skokie, but it was lifted for most of the affected areas in Evanston on Saturday afternoon after water testing confirmed it is safe to drink. However, those who live in the 60203 zip code in Evanston were still under a boil order.

Todd Feurer contributed to this report.