A water main break in the early hours of Sunday, May 10, could leave some Oakland County residents and businesses 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. Boil water advisories have been issued for all of those areas and the southwest corner of Oakland Township.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency because of the water main break and activated the State Emergency Operations Center. The declaration authorizes “the use of all available state resources to assist local response and recovery operations in the affected county to ensure residents have access to water they need,” according to a social media post by the Michigan State Police Emergency Management & Homeland Security Division.
“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. He also said the township was asking all businesses to immediately stop using water on what was expected to be a very busy Mother’s Day for restaurants.
Later on Sunday afternoon on its Facebook site, Orion Township asked nonessential businesses to close and stated that “water service to nonessential businesses will be shut off in an effort to preserve the limited remaining supply for essential public health and safety needs.”
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 sometime Sunday. Orion Township is using a water tower that holds roughly a one-day supply.
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?
Boil water advisories have been issued in the communities affected by the water main break. The GLWA has asked residents to use only what is absolutely necessary for hydration and basic sanitation and to avoid running dishwashers and washing machines or watering lawns and other uses.
The GLWA also 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 and Tuesday.
This story was updated at 11:45 p.m., Sunday, May 10.
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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