Harrison Township

Township recovers from severe water main break

By Sarah Cormier
C & G Staff Writer

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Approximately 25,000 people living in Harrison Township were without water for almost 12 hours when a main water line broke March 29.

The water main broke at around 1 p.m. It was located underneath the entrance ramp to westbound I-94 on the eastbound side of 16 Mile Road. The 20-inch pipe was one of the township’s biggest connections to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, where it receives its supply.

“It’s the only connector to the Detroit water line,” explained Township Supervisor Anthony Forlini. ”It was one of the worst places that that could have happened.”

Forlini said that having a 20-inch water main is unique — most are much smaller. A compatible pipe was found in Grosse Pointe and used to fix the break.

“It was just an odd size,” said Forlini.

Employees of the Harrison Township Water and Sewer Department worked to fix the water main until 12:30 a.m. on March 30.

“I was out there just about the whole time … but the guys did a good job and were very professional and got the job done,” said Forlini.

In total, about 12,000 households were without water. Selfridge Air National Guard Base and a few other homes in that area were unaffected, as they receive water from the Mount Clemens Wastewater Treatment Plant.

For the next 48 hours, Harrison Township residents are being encouraged to boil their water before they use it.

Forlini said that he has talked to a lot of residents who are pleased with the way that the township handled the situation. The media was alerted and posts were put up on Facebook to keep residents updated.

“We’ve got some very positive comments though because we got word out to the community very quick,” he said.

Ironically enough, that night township officials were supposed to meet to discuss updates that need to be made to the township’s Water and Sewer infrastructure. Late last year, the township’s Water and Sewer superintendent retired. Since then, some position juggling has gone on in the department, which is now being overseen by Building Department Official Vijay Parakh. In January, the Board of Trustees voted to hire a temporary, seasona,l full-time maintenance worker to assist for the next 90 days, when water main breaks are common.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Sarah Cormier at scormier@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1095.