The burst water main that’s caused an ongoing state of emergency in multiple Oakland County communities has been replaced—but that doesn’t mean full water service has been restored just yet.
Officials with the Great Lakes Water Authority say the new pipe, which replaces the 42-inch one that ruptured in Auburn Hills on Sunday, is holding up well under normal water pressure. But they say the larger system still needs to be flushed, and pressure restored, before water use restrictions can be lifted.
“Our goal right now is to have the pressures restored to the communities in the way that they normally are sometime on Thursday,” GLWA CEO Suzanne Coffey said at a Tuesday press conference. “If we can pull that back, we will.”
But Coffey added that a boil water advisory will continue beyond that until testing can confirm the water is safe to drink. In the meantime, “We really still need the demands to be low on the system,” she said. “We absolutely need that.”
Orion Township is the epicenter of five impacted communities in northern Oakland County. Township Supervisor Chris Barnett said that residents should keep their water use low for the time being.
“You can take a shower, you can use some water,” Barnett said. “But again, use sparingly until we tell you that we are fully back on. And we're hopeful that's within a couple days.”
The break closed schools in that community, and Barnett said they will stay closed through Thursday. He added that restaurants were allowed to reopen Tuesday morning, but manufacturing and other water-intensive facilities remain closed for now.
Barnett and other officials credited residents with respecting calls to curtail water use over the past two days.
“This would have been ten times worse if our residents didn't heed the warning, and stop showering and stop washing dishes and all these things,” Barnett said.
Other communities impacted by the break include Lake Orion, Auburn Hills, Rochester Hills, and Pontiac. Parts or all of those communities remain under boil water advisories and water use restrictions. Those cities, along with with Oakland County and state emergency management agencies, are providing bottled water to residents in the meantime.
