Lake Orion — Water service has been restored to four Oakland County communities impacted by a major water main break Sunday morning and residents no longer have to restrict their use, but they still can’t drink the water, Great Lakes Water Authority officials announced Tuesday.
Full water service has been restored to Orion Township, Lake Orion, northwestern Rochester Hills and northern Auburn Hills.
“GLWA’s water is flowing as typical, normal operations through that new 42-inch pipe to the communities,” Great Lakes Water Authority CEO Suzanne Coffey said Wednesday. “The communities’ connections are open.”
But the water still isn’t safe to drink. Communities have to flush their water systems before the water will be safe to drink, Coffey said. The drop in water pressure created a situation where germs could get into the system.
Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett said the water consumption advisory likely will remain in place through the weekend.
The boil order and service disruption stemmed from a transmission line that ruptured around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning in River Woods Park in Auburn Hills. The break prompted a state of emergency in the city. Roughly 200,000 people in the four communities; Pontiac also was forced to significantly limit its water use.
Crews lifted a new section of pipe into place late Monday to replace the portion of the line that ruptured.
Barnett said water service was restored “with surgical precision” through a team of local officials and GLWA workers.
“Every single day, this amazing team outperformed every single estimate they gave us, and it was remarkable,” said Barnett.
The break forced some local schools and businesses to shut down. Lake Orion Community Schools will stay closed through Thursday.
GLWA water trucks will continue giving water away at the three locations throughout the impacted areas from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. every day until the boil water advisories are lifted.
cthompson@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Service restored to Oakland communities hit by water main break; boil order still in effect
Reporting by Max Bryan and Carol Thompson, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
