OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – A massive water main break in Farmington Hills is impacting several Metro Detroit communities and it will be days before water service is back to normal.
Novi, Walled Lake and Commerce Township residents are under the boil water advisory after The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) reported a water main break on Sunday (Oct. 31) at 14 Mile and Drake Roads in Farmington Hills.
Wednesday, Nov. 3 update: Boil water notice lifted for Commerce Township, Novi, Walled Lake following water main break in Farmington Hills
The break caused low water pressure in several surrounding communities. West Bloomfield, Farmington Hills and Wixom also experienced low water pressure, but a boil water advisory has not been issued for those communities.
Crews were on scene working to fix the destructive 48′' water main break on Monday morning, and emergency repairs continued through Monday evening.
GLWA said the drop in water pressure has not required a boil water advisory for any of the communities affected. Those communities include Keego Harbor, Sylvan Lake, Novi, Walled Lake, Wixom, Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield Township.
However, Commerce Township, Walled Lake and Novi do have precautionary advisories in place.
Residents near Bycroft Street said the break caused a 5′ deep stream. Water also rushed down a lawn on Forestview Drive, just a block down from the break.
Residents in the 14 Mile Road and Camelot Drive area said they couldn’t believe the damage caused by the burst pipe.
“That water was hitting the house very hard and it looked like Niagra Falls on the side of his house,” a resident said.
The repair is expected to take 3 to 5 days. Once the initial repairs are done, the GLWA will take a closer look at the pipe to see if further assessments are needed to prevent another burst from happening.
The water main break is not the same segment of pipe where a break occurred and was replaced in 2017.