AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Crews from the Great Lakes Water Authority have been working to repair a massive water main that broke in Auburn Hills early Sunday morning. It could take days or weeks to fix.
Residents in Orion Township, Lake Orion and northern Auburn Hills are being asked to restrict their water usage after the 42-inch water main broke.
"Did you see the size of that pipe they have to replace, I mean who could predict a 42-inch pipe is going to break?" Lake Orion resident Hank Ferry said.
Ferry was among those picking up two gallons of water from a distribution site at Atwater Park in Lake Orion.
"I was down in Berkley overnight and coming back home, I figured I stop by and pick up a couple of gallons of water," Ferry said.
There is also a boil water advisory in place for residents and businesses in Rochester Hills and Oakland Township, who have also been asked to conserve water.
Rochester Hills resident Jonathan Mattia said he is making the best of the situation.
"We'll make it work, we'll have to go with relatives and stuff like that and try to make the best of a bad situation," Mattia said.
Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett said he is working to get more resources for residents, particularly the elderly population.
"Our most vulnerable population is the people who live in the assistant living and the nursing facilities, we started at 3 am this morning led by Fire Chief Brian Allen… with moving those people out of our community," Barnett said. "Every single one of them will be moved out of our community."
Great Lakes Water Authority CEO Suzanne Coffey said the timeline for repairs remains uncertain until crews can fully assess the damage.
"It's up in the air until we get that piece of pipe out of the ground, when we see the whole pipe, we will know what we're dealing with and the extent of the damage and how many pieces of pipe needs to be replaced," Coffey said.
Coffey said there is no word yet on what caused the pipe to break.
"It is very challenging to tell, when we pull that pipe out, we will send it off to the lab, people take… pieces of the pipe to do a forensic analysis to determine the manner of which it failed," Coffey said.
Lake Orion Police Chief Mark Amundson said distribution sites in the village will remain open as long as the water emergency continues.
"We're getting the water from the Great Lakes Water Authority which they come up with these water trucks and fill up the water and we distribute to the people," Amundson said.
Meijer and Kroger are donating semi-trucks of water to the distribution sites, according to Amundson.
Distribution sites are located at Atwater Park on Atwater street, Wildwood Amphitheater on Joslyn Court and the Auburn Hills Department of Public Works on Brown Road.
You can find more information on the Orion Township website.
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