New pipe installed at Farmington Hills water main break site

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WJBK) - Crews are working nonstop in Farmington Hills to install a new 48-inch pipe that burst earlier this week, affecting almost 350,000 Oakland County residents.

The new pipe arrived Wednesday morning but it could still be days before the boil advisory is lifted.

The massive water main broke Monday at 14 Mile and Verona. Peter Rabban knows all about it: he's been watching it unfold since Monday.

"It's getting annoying, but hopefully it's suppose to be done by Friday," he said.

A spokesperson with the Great Lakes Water Aauthority tells FOX 2 the new pipe arrived in Metro Detroit from Illinois. Once installed, they'll pressure test the line and the main will be disinfected and flushed, followed by water quality testing.

All told, it could take up to 48 hours, bringing the timeline to sometime Friday evening. That's when things are expected to get back to normal for residents.

The past few days have been quite the adjustment.

"Your normally everyday, get up, brushing your teeth, washing your hands - to being cautious on doing that. You have to boil water to do stuff like that. Use distilled water that you go to purchase, so it's inconvenient for sure," Rabban

"I just want the kids to go back to school," Mary Sworski said. "Parents need to work, we need to get things done. So it's kind of hard. One day was okay, it was kind of fun and exciting, but I can't have the rest of the weekend like this."

An investigation will be done to figure out what caused the main to break, once repairs are done. The broken pipe was supposed to still have several years left before it was to be replaced. The GLWA says there were no problems until now.

"You know, the infrastructure everywhere, and it's just going. Where the money is going  to come from to repair all of this, I don't know," Maxine Bernstein said.

"It's concerning like how can something like that happen. Mid-way through something like that should last another 40 plus years," Rabban said.

The GLWA did not make anyone available to speak about the repair process on camera and could not estimate how much repairs would cost.

A spokesperson tells me the GLWA - has newer technology which allows for closer monitoring of the system - that was not available decades ago.

Right now, the great lakes water authority does not have estimate on how much repairs will cost.

That boil water advisory remains in effect for the areas impacted.