Southwest Detroit water main break: 6 weeks to return to normal

'Heartbreaking': SW Detroit residents deal with devastation of water main break, flood

It has been five days for residents of Southwest Detroit as officials have given a six week estimate before the entire 400 households impacted can return to normal.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - With about one square mile with 400 households impacted, the disaster from Monday's massive water main break has rocked the tight-knit Southwest Detroit community.

The City announced that the first cleanup and sanitization is taking place on Friday at four households following debris removal yesterday. A spokesperson from Detroit's Water and Sewerage Department estimated about six weeks for all affected households to be completed.

Big picture view:

"We have contractors starting Monday that will begin to repair furnaces, hot water tanks and appliances and replacing them if need be," said Bryan Peckinpaugh, DWSD. "It is going to be very extensive. The cleaning and sanitizing could take up to three or four hours, depending on the size of the house. Then the hot water tank repairs and the furnace repairs, once they do inspections."

The first residents receiving priority are the 170 households who were evacuated to hotels.

Southwest Detroit water main repairs - first houses getting sanitized

(Full press conference) The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department gave an update on the state of repairs Friday, five days after the massive water main break.

"We expect that all the houses will (be completed) in six weeks," he said. "We have two large contracts we will enact, and four smaller contracts we will use to get recovery efforts done."

More residences will be cleaned and sanitized beginning Monday, when more emergency contractors will be available to work.

A look at the damaged 54-inch transmission water main / Credit: GLWA Facebook

"Today we are starting with four because those are the houses that had the initial debris cleaned out in the basements yesterday," Peckinpaugh said. "It takes time to get the crews and the emergency contractors in place. That's why we are starting with four. We will be doing several more starting Monday with the new emergency contractors."

Timeline:

The timeline for water main repairs is expected to be about two weeks for the large 54-inch main that broke on Beard Street. The second smaller, six-inch main broke on Rowan Street.

"Hopefully they get this back together pretty soon," said Manuel Cuevas, resident. "It’s crazy everybody’s basements are destroyed, you know what I mean. Everything is soaked. It’s wild. It's going to be crazy out here for the next few months."

On Friday, a 19-foot segment of replacement pipe arrived on-site. In the last 24 hours, GLWA crews removed a 12-foot section of damaged pipe. Contractors are inspecting the remaining pipe on either side of the break location in preparation for the repair process.

The timeline for completion of the repair and returning the main to service will take additional time, first due to inspections before repairing it, then due to the testing of the water afterward.

"I am proud of everything, even the city," said Maria Salinas, community activist. "I know they're limited. I do think we maybe need to step it up a little bit more on the quality of things, but everybody is trying their best."

Repair work at the site of the Southwest Detroit water main break / Credit: GLWA Facebook

Some residents have complained about a lack of communication with the City, but Peckinpaugh said the size and scope of the impacted area will take time to get through.

"This disaster is very widespread, almost a mile," he said. "It is going to take time to get around to all the households and reach them with the claim info, the inspections, the repairs and the cleaning and sanitizing."

Residents impacted by the water main break can call (313) 774-5261 to be connected to emergency resources through the City of Detroit.

"It’s heartbreaking. I've been here 50 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this," Cuevas said.

There are two forms residents need to complete, including one for claims and sewage backup HERE.

"One form is after the pre-inspection when a building safety inspector comes to your house about the flood damage - there is a liability form that needs to be filled out by the resident, reviewed and signed," Peckinpaugh said. "A second form on the website or paper, that is called a notice of claim very important - it is what we use to provide any financial settlement for the damage that occurs at these houses with these cars."

The Source: Information for this story was gathered from GLWA and a press conference with Bryan Peckinpaugh of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.