A water main break in the early hours of Sunday, May 10 could leave some Oakland County residents without water for up to two weeks.
The Great Lakes Water Authority is asking residents of Orion Township, the Village of Lake Orion, City of Rochester Hills, and the northern section of Auburn Hills to only use water for absolutely essential reasons such as “hydration, food preparation and basic sanitation.”
Orion Township has declared a state of emergency. The township’s water tower has a capacity of roughly 2.5 million gallons of water, about what the community needs for one day.
The city of Auburn Hills declared a state of emergency and issued a mandatory boil water advisory for Auburn Hills north of Cross Creek Parkway/University Drive. The northwest portion of Auburn Hills is also under a boil water advisory.
In addition, Rochester Hills residents in the northwest portion of the community are under a boil water advisory and the City of Rochester Hils has issued emergency water restrictions.
“This is not a drill. This is a very serious situation and we need your attention,” said Orion Township supervisor Chris Barnett at a news conference held at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 10.
Barnett said there might be a two-week water outage during the repair process. The township is asking all businesses to immediately stop using water on what was expected to be a very busy Mother’s Day for restaurants.
GLWA chief executive officer Suzanne Coffey described the situation as an “incredible challenge” and said it is “very likely” that Orion Township will be out of water today.
Where did the water main break take place?
The break occurred on a 42-inch transmission main in River Woods Park in Auburn Hills that was found to be leaking on Wednesday, May 6. The GLWA was attempting to reroute water to avoid a total water loss, but the main broke before that effort could be finished.
Crews were able to isolate the break and are working to remove standing water from the break site, the GLWA reported before noon Sunday, a necessary step before repairs can start.
What should affected residents do during a water main break?
The GLWA is asking affected residents to only use water for essential reasons like drinking, preparing food and basic sanitation and to avoid running dishwashers and washing machines or watering lawns.
It has sent out three water trucks that will provide one gallon containers of water to each resident. They will be available at three locations:
Orion Township’s website issued an update Sunday stating that “repair work is expected to be extensive.” It advised residents and business to “prepare for the possibility of a prolonged outage, with current estimates indicating restoration could take approximately 10–14 days.”
At the Sunday news conference, Barnett said he “will be demanding every resource available” to help Orion Township during what he stressed would be a difficult time.
Barnett said those living in assisted living sites and nursing homes are being moved out of the community to other locations.
Lake Orion Community Schools will be closed Monday.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Main break could leave some Oakland County residents without water for 2 weeks
Reporting by Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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