FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – The pipe needed to get water flowing again in several Oakland County communities is in place.
Crews have been able to repair the water main which broke earlier this week along 14 Mile Road between Drake and Farmington roads, prompting a boil water advisory in a dozen communities and blocking water to than 50,000 homes. That number was down to 35,604 Wednesday as crews repaired a balky valve underground after a pipe that was needed arrived to the site.
UPDATE: Boil water advisory expected to continue into weekend as testing gets underway
The replacement water main was fully installed by Thursday morning. Pressure testing will happen next and the main will be disinfected and flushed. After the main is flushed, water quality testing will occur. If all water quality test results come back clear, then the boil water advisory will be lifted.
Affected residents currently still need to boil water before it can be used. The Great Lakes Water Authority said it expects the advisory to be lifted by the end of the day Friday.
The advisory was issued for:
- Bloomfield Township
- Commerce Township
- Farmington Hills (North of I-696)
- Keego Harbor
- Novi
- Novi Township
- Oakland Township (specifically the subdivisions: The Hills of Oakland and Kings Pointe)
- Orchard Lake Village
- Rochester Hills (north of Hamlin and west of Livernois)
- Walled Lake
- West Bloomfield Township
- Wixom
READ: Oakland County boil water advisory: What you need to know
"We're lucky we still have enough water to do basic things like use the restrooms and being able to pull water to boil and wash dishes, and luckily, this is something that can be easily, well, relatively easily fixed," said Steve Smith, who was affected by the water main break.
Sign up for ClickOnDetroit breaking news alerts and email newsletters