DETROIT – One year after a catastrophic 54-inch water main break flooded neighborhoods with up to four feet of water, some residents say they’re still struggling with unresolved damage claims and deteriorating home foundations, while city officials maintain they’ve fulfilled their promises to the community.
The Feb. 17, 2025, rupture forced roughly 150 families to evacuate their homes, prompting dramatic rescues by raft and front loaders as freezing temperatures complicated the emergency response.
--> Water main break in SW Detroit displaces 150 families; officials step in with shelter, repairs
Residents Report Ongoing Struggles
Carmen Vega, whose home was among those damaged, says she’s now using clamps to hold her house’s foundation together. While she received a new furnace and water heater, Vega claims there’s a significant gap between the assessed damage and compensation received.
“A contractor assessed the damage at $177,000,” Vega said.
The claim payout was only $30,400, she said.
Jimmy Rios, a local plumber who became an advocate for affected residents, reports that many families faced challenges with the claims process.
“Files were lost, people had to start over again,” Rios said. “A lot of folks started to feel really worn down by the process. Some decided to just take what they were offering, while others are still advocating for themselves to this day.”
City Officials Defend Response
Sam Smalley, Deputy Director of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, maintains the agencies have fulfilled their pledge to repair damage and split uninsured losses between DWSD and the Great Lakes Water Authority.
“We have processed hundreds of claims,” Smalley said.
DWSD held on-site meetings, offered translation services, sent staffers to homes to ask for documents while extending the filing claim period, according to DWSD.
“While everyone may not be happy, it was still, I think, an extraordinary response to an extraordinary event, Smalley said.
Claims Process Challenges
The claims process, managed by third-party administrator Mackinaw Administrators, has been a source of frustration for some residents.
Rios indicates that initial settlements were often low, with offers typically including a 40 percent depreciation rate.
Residents who persisted in negotiations sometimes secured better terms with depreciation closer to 25 percent.
In a written statement to Local 4, Mackinaw Administrators said it administered all known claims.
“There are less than a handful of claims awaiting response from the claimants, which Mackinaw is monitoring and responding to claimant inquiries,” said Marissa Sura, public relations and social media advisor for the company via email.
Infrastructure Improvements
In response to the incident, GLWA is expanding its infrastructure maintenance and inspection programs.
The authority plans to enhance its Linear Asset Integrity Program, focusing on both pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes (PCCB) and steel mains throughout their system.
“Our infrastructure, both local assets and regional assets, are getting nothing but older,” Smalley explained. “While it’s a very robust system, it is indeed an investment. GLWA has plans to increase their Linear Asset Integrity Program starting this year, trying to increase the number of transmission mains that are inspected and assessed and possibly rehabilitated.”
Pete Fromm, Director of Water Transmission at GLWA, revealed that the authority manages approximately 400 miles of PCCB pipes throughout their system.
The February break prompted GLWA to accelerate their inspection timeline and broaden their focus.
“Once the break occurred last February, it made us refocus and pivot our focus on also our steel mains,” Fromm said. “We’re focusing on more densely populated areas first with our steel main and then broadening that out.”
Smalley emphasized the importance of addressing underground infrastructure before surface improvements.
“There’s a lot of money for road funding, but if we don’t fix the buried assets first, the roads aren’t going to last that long,” Smalley said.
Risk-Based Asset Management
DWSD has implemented a comprehensive asset management program that conducts neighborhood-by-neighborhood inspections, assessments, and rehabilitation of assets. The program, which has been in place since 2018, uses a data-intensive approach to prioritize improvements.
“We define risk as the probability of failure times the consequence of failure,” Smalley explained. “We determine probability of failure by looking at material type, break history, and all available data on that asset. Then we assess consequence of failure based on factors like population density, proximity to hospitals, and potential impacts on freeways or major thoroughfares.”
On the DWSD Capital Improvement Projects map there are neighborhoods in red, but the department said it’s not because something is about to fail.
“It’s because there are very large assets, and if they were to fail the consequence is significant. So, it’s not just – don’t interpret the map as something that’s going to happen. This is the overall risk and we think we’ve addressed some of the highest risk water asset neighborhoods already and we continue to do so,” Smalley said.
If you look at that map and you see a lot of red downtown on the wastewater site, for example, it’s not because something is about to fail, it’s because there are very large assets, and if they were to fail the consequence is significant. So it’s not just Don’t interpret the map as something that’s going to happen. This is the overall risk and we think we’ve addressed some of the highest risk water asset neighborhoods already and we continue to do so.
The investment appears to be yielding results. Smalley compared current conditions to 2009, when the city experienced 600 water main breaks in January alone—averaging 20 breaks per day. “If we can continue this level of investment of about $100 million annually in our water system, I think that we’re turning the corner on this,” he said.
The department has mobilized all available resources, including contractors, Department of Public Works, GLWA and General Services Department crews, to address infrastructure challenges. While Smalley acknowledges there’s still a negative impact, he notes that the overall trend is improving.
Moving Forward
DWSD reports some residents haven’t cashed their settlement checks, and the department is willing to reissue payments. However, for residents like Vega, the issue goes beyond compensation.
“How dare you guys try to say that this was only enough money pennies on the dollar?” Vega said, pointing to visible cracks in her home’s foundation. “I am angry because it’s not fixed.”
The incident has prompted both DWSD and GLWA to reassess their infrastructure management strategies, with officials acknowledging the ongoing challenges of maintaining aging water systems in a city built for a much larger population.