It has been a rough week for residents who live near Petosky and Collingwood.
Late Wednesday night a water main broke, flooding Petosky. Some drivers found their cars stranded in the ice. Thursday and Friday crews worked to repair the broken main. Some people lost water as work was done.
Then on Friday a crew accidentally hit a gas line. DTE responded to turn off gas in the area so it could be repaired. This left 50 - 80 customers without natural gas. DTE says the repairs were complete by 5:00pm Saturday.
The broken main on Petosky is just one of many Detroit Water and Sewerage Department crews responded to.
“We have established eight crews that are working around the clock everyday this week since Christmas,” said Bryan Peckinpaugh, spokesperson for DWSD.
On Friday they repaired a total of 13 mains.
The non-stop cold temperatures this week simply overstressed the city’s aging infrastructure. Most of the water main distribution system serving Detroit was installed in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department says it has a 4-year $400 million capital improvement program that aims to address such problems.
Starting in the spring there are plans to replace 30 water mains. It is a start on a massive project.
“In the city of Detroit we have 3,000 miles of water mains, so we do have a big system,” said Peckinpaugh
