DETROIT (WXZY) — Crews with the city of Detroit are working around the clock to address 51 water main breaks across the city as extreme winter weather tests the aging infrastructure system.
Detroit Water and Sewerage Director Gary Brown said crews are managing to keep water flowing to all residents despite the widespread breaks affecting pipes that are up to 100 years old, with some dating back to the 1800s.
Watch Glenda Lewis' video report below:
"There's nobody without water, but before we go home tonight, we make sure that if there's a break that has a block out of water, that gets fixed before we go home and then we start all over tomorrow morning," Brown said.
Brown broke from a brief press conference with Mayor Mary Sheffield and other city leaders to discuss the ongoing work on the aging pipe system with 7 News Detroit anchor Glenda Lewis. A map of water main breaks displayed at the meeting showed the main areas of concern across Detroit.
The department is spending $100 million annually to rebuild the system while replacing 600 miles of pipe each year. Brown said the entire system should be updated within four to five years.
However, Brown emphasized that affordability remains a key consideration in the replacement timeline.
"If I spent a billion dollars, Detroiters couldn't afford it in the rates... the rates would be astronomical, so we have to balance how much money we can spend on repair," Brown said.
Related coverage: Streets freeze over on Detroit's east side as city works to repair a 'couple dozen' water main breaks
The director noted that ideally, the department wants to move away from emergency repairs and instead identify the weakest pipes in the system for proactive replacement.
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