Great Lakes Water Authority Repairs 42-Inch Main as Auburn Hills Water Outage May Last 2 Weeks
Updated
Updated · Detroit Free Press · May 11
Great Lakes Water Authority Repairs 42-Inch Main as Auburn Hills Water Outage May Last 2 Weeks
9 articles · Updated · Detroit Free Press · May 11
GLWA crews were welding a replacement segment into the failed 42-inch main Monday, but officials said full restoration for Orion Township, Lake Orion and northern Auburn Hills could still take up to two weeks.
The break has left some areas virtually without water, triggered severe use restrictions and boil-water advisories, and forced drinking-water distribution, portable toilet deployment and some evacuations from assisted-living facilities.
50-year-old pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe failed halfway through its expected 100-year life, and GLWA said the rupture was mid-pipe—not at a weld or from an external strike—raising fresh concerns about premature failures.
80 miles of the utility's 800-mile system use the same pipe type; at about $20 million per mile, replacing all of it would cost roughly $1.6 billion, far above the $7.5 million now budgeted for added replacement work.
Schools, restaurants and some businesses were closed Monday, with local officials warning residents and merchants face days of disruption and heavy financial losses while water towers remain under strain.
Is this Michigan water emergency a local disaster or a warning of a national infrastructure collapse?
Facing a $1.6B crisis, why aren't cheaper, modern technologies used to fix Michigan's failing water pipes?