According to city officials, water is still safe for consumption despite several recent water main breaks.
In a citywide alert, officials announced Jan. 16 that three water main breaks had occured in the area of Eight Mile and Lahser roads.
Larry Sirls, the manager of public works operations, said two of the breaks occurred on Eight Mile, and one occured on Lahser.
According to the alert, residents in the area may experience discolored water until the pipes are repaired, but the water is still safe for consumption.
“While water does not need to be boiled since it is not contaminated, residents may still opt to do so as a precaution,” city officials said in the alert.
While the repairs are made, Lahser Road, just north of Eight Mile Road, is closed to northbound traffic and will be until around Jan. 22. Southbound Lahser Road, however, remains open.
Sirls said crews don’t know the exact cause of the break, but it could likely be an internal issue with pressure valves or the weather.
“The weather often has something to do with this. When there are large drops in temperature or up-and-down temperatures, that seems to chew up the water mains.”
The infrastructure in the area is old, Sirls said. Just exactly how old was unknown at press time, but he assumed the mains had been built around the 1950s.
“A lot of our neighborhoods have gotten new water mains, but we’re holding off on Eight Mile because Wayne County did a road project there a few years ago, and it’s hard to justify tearing up a new road,” Sirls said.
At press time, two of the mains had been fixed, and Sirls said repairs for the third were put on hold until 4 p.m. Jan. 17.
The reason for the delay is because the main services a dialysis center, and crews wanted to wait until the facility closed to make repairs.
This article appeared in C&G Newspapers. Read more here.