Regional water authority officials said they’re making progress repairing a water main that ruptured Sunday in Auburn Hills.
The water main break prompted nearby communities to declare a state of emergency, school districts to cancel classes Monday, and nursing homes to evacuate.
“Residents of Orion Township, the village of Lake Orion, the cities of Rochester Hills, Pontiac, and Auburn Hills should still restrict their water use to only what is absolutely necessary for hydration and essential sanitary purposes,” Great Lakes Water Authority, or GLWA, officials said in a statement late Sunday.
The five communities have a total population of more than 202,000, according to the latest statistics from the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.
The work underway
GLWA said its crews and emergency contractors have removed the water from the break site and excavated down to the broken 42-inch transmission line. Workers were installing safety measures and expected to remove the damaged section of pipe late Sunday, officials said.
On Monday, Chris Barnett, Orion Township’s supervisor, said GLWA representatives told him and other community officials that crews were making great progress at the break site.
He also said that he has visited the site and will be visiting it again on Monday.
“I would just ask our residents to let’s let the experts do what they do,” the supervisor said. “We’re doing the fix the right way the first time. In the meantime, our workarounds are working. We’re not gaining ground yet, and we’re certainly not out of the woods.”
Barnett said the township was placed under a boil water alert on Sunday, and it remains in place. He explained the alert is necessary because the township was getting emergency water from pipes under the city of Pontiac, which it has never done before.
He said the township would continue moving senior citizens from its assisted and long-term care facilities to other locations on Monday. Staff will also deliver water to those who need it and are homebound, Barnett said.
GLWA officials said they expect to have a new section of the pipe installed by the end of Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the authority deployed three trucks with water to three locations in the affected communities.
Barnett said Monday that the township had five semi trucks with water arriving later in the day.
How the break happened
Water authority officials said the break happened at about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday in the system’s transmission main underneath River Woods Park in Auburn Hills.
However, Orion Township officials declared a state of emergency the day before as a precaution. They said that the water authority advised them that the leak remained stable and residents could continue using water as normal.
GLWA said that its crews were working diligently with the communities to reroute water to avoid water restrictions. But “despite our best efforts, the water main broke before the rerouting could be completed,” it said.
Suzanne Coffey, CEO of the Great Lakes Water Authority, said it will be at least two weeks until the water main is fixed.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the State Emergency Operations Center and declared a state of emergency following the water main break.
cramirez@detroitnews.com
@CharlesERamirez
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Officials: Auburn Hills water main break fix moves forward
Reporting by Charles E. Ramirez, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
