(WXYZ) — Several Oakland County communities are dealing with the aftermath of a major water system disruption that triggered water restrictions, boil water advisories and multiple water main breaks.
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The Great Lakes Water Authority says the disruption at its Troy pump station started around 8 a.m. on July 16, impacting water flow to several Oakland County communities.
Madison Heights was hit hard on July 16 with 6 water main breaks, flooding streets, lowering water pressure, and frustrating residents.
"I wish they would get it done quickly so I can be able to get out. My husband's gonna have to park all the way down the street for, I don't know how many days because they always block off the end of our driveway," Jayme Sliwinski, a Madison Heights resident, said.
City officials in Madison Heights say the main breaks were linked to GLWA's pump station problems.
The water utility says the issue at its Troy pump station interrupted water flow to several Oakland County communities, including Auburn Hills, which declared a mandatory water restriction. Oakland Township and Rochester Hills issued boil water advisories.
For some residents, the July 16 water flow problems brought back memories of the lengthy boil water advisory following a major water main break earlier this year.
"We had to boil the water for... it was almost a week. Then you had to go out and get bottled water, and it was hard to find bottled water at times," Lynn Hasselbring, a Rochester Hills resident, said.
Donna Learmont, another Rochester Hills resident, said the repeated disruptions are raising concerns about the region's infrastructure.
"It's, it's very frustrating. My concern is the infrastructure and the reliability or lack thereof," Learmont said.
Rochester Hills spokesperson Nathan Mueller said the city responded quickly and kept residents informed.
"Our residents, you know, obviously are, are used to this, unfortunately. But for our system, our team, we were on it right away. We communicated to our residents. I think that's the important part. We're in a boil water advisory right now. Continue to stay in that until we kind of flush the system and do the two tests, which are 24 hours apart. And we hope, we expect, you know, later on this afternoon to be able to start flushing the system," Mueller said.
GLWA says crews restored water pressure to impacted communities early in the afternoon on July 16. The disruption was caused by a power outage at the pump station, though GLWA says the exact cause remains under investigation. DTE says there is no indication the outage was related to its equipment.
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