CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Cases on cases of bottled water were stacked inside a Chesterfield Township Fire Department station Tuesday waiting to be passed out to residents. For the next 48 hours, they will drink out of bottles instead of the sink.
“What does it mean to be able to come to the fire station and get some free water," 7 Action News reporter Brett Kast asked resident Carrie Prahl.
"It's a wonderful feeling," Prahl said. "I just want to go home, eat and chill and have water for myself and my cats.”
Chesterfield Township is one of five communities now under a boil advisory. Businesses like Dimitri's Opa Restaurant are also dealing with the impact.
“We have to pay for bottled water. We don't charge our customers," said Julia Hanna, a server at Dimitri's Opa Restaurant. "We don't serve pop, so I'm sure we’re losing sales there.”
The advisory comes after a loss of pressure from a main break at 24 Mile Road and North Avenue. The Great Lakes Water Authority found the leak Tuesday around 6 a.m. Crews on scene had it isolated by 10 a.m.
“For a pipe this size, it’s extraordinarily rapid that we were able to get the pressure restored in a four-hour period,” GLWA CEO Suzzane Coffey said.
But doing so appears to have also led to other breaks, like one at 23 Mile and Romeo Plank roads.
“First, I hoped it wasn't us. Then I thought, oh no, that’s us," Macomb Township Supervisor Frank Viviano said.
That main belongs to Macomb Township. Viviano says isolating the original GLWA break quickly added pressure to township lines, causing two more breaks, including the one seen on social media. Viviano says the hole was 6 inches wide.
“In an older system like this particular line, a weak spot gets exploited and it just pops,” Viviano said.
That break was fixed quickly with no major flooding in the area. However, all five communities remain under a boil advisory until two clean water tests are taken 24 hours apart, which could happen as soon as Thursday.
“It is an inconvenience with washing clothes and brushing your teeth and everything else,” Chesterfield Township resident Robin Stone said.
Meanwhile, residents will continue drinking out of bottles, thankful some are stepping up to help.
“It meant a lot," Stone said of the water distribution. "It meant a lot to the residents that the township is doing this for us.”
The distribution in Chesterfield ended at 8 p.m. Tuesday, but it will resume again Wednesday at fire station 3, Central station, running from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
