ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. – There’s a timeline of hope for thousands of people affected by the massive water main break in Auburn Hills.
During a news conference on Tuesday (May 12) afternoon, Great Lakes Water Authority officials said the broken pipe has been repaired, and they hope to restore normal water pressure to impacted communities by Thursday.
For now, several communities, Orion Township, Lake Orion, Auburn Hills north of Cross Creek Parkway, University South, and the Northwest portion of Rochester Hills are still under a boil water advisory.
Those areas have also been asked to restrict water usage.
And in those areas, residents continue to rely on bottled water distribution sites.
One person Local 4 spoke to is Pam.
She was forced to change nearly every part of her routine, including washing dishes.
“I boiled the water on the stove last night, had this here full, and then I dumped half of my water in this side,” Pam said, describing how she’s been cleaning her kitchen.
She and her husband stocked up on paper plates and disposable utensils.
But their biggest preparation happened upstairs in the bathroom .
“We filled up our bathtub as soon as we got the word, Lake Orion said to fill your tub,” Pam said. “We filled tubs, we filled sinks. We filled anything that we could.”
They took those steps because they feared the disruption could last a long time.
That’s why Tuesday’s (May 12) update from GLWA officials brought some relief.
“I’m happy to announce that we have had a major milestone in the repair of the pipe. The repaired section of pipe is in,” Suzzane Coffey, CEO of GLWA.
Coffey said a lot of work remains for the days ahead, like restoring water pressure.
Then, test the system and flush it.
That last portion is something all affected cities and townships will have to do. That has to happen before any boil-water advisories can be lifted.
“Once that happens, there’s sampling that has to occur,” Coffey said. “I had a good question the other day. Someone asked me, ‘Can you just send the samples out to a super high-quality lab somewhere and crunch down that time?’ The answer is no. It’s a bacteriological analysis, and those analyses require a certain amount of time for incubation, and we can’t crunch that part down.”
For Pam, the progress is especially important. She is preparing for one of her final chemotherapy treatments and said having reliable, clean running water is critical.
“For a week, I am really yucky after I have chemo, and my next one is next Wednesday,” Pam said.
GLWA leaders said, barring any unexpected setbacks, they anticipate returning water pressure to affected residents by Thursday.
Once pressure is restored and testing is completed, advisories can begin to be lifted.