Detroit crews tending to 20 water main breaks as demand spikes amid prolonged dry spell

Detroit ― Repair crews were tending to dozens of water main breaks across the city Tuesday as they heed a high early summer demand for water amid a prolonged dry spell.

As a result of high water usage this past weekend, aging city pipes have broken, gushing out onto 40 residential streets, said Gary Brown, director of Detroit's Water and Sewerage Department.

More than half of the water pipelines have been tended to as of Tuesday morning, Brown said.

Detroit residents and businesses are using more than 700 million gallons of water each day, approximately 100 million gallons more than an average day in early June, DWSD spokesman Bryan Peckinpaugh said.

The nearly 17% increase in water usage is primarily due to more than two weeks without rain as more residents use water to water their lawns, "which we haven't seen in more than 20 years," Peckinpaugh said.

Tuesday will be Detroit's 17th consecutive day without rain, said Ian Lee, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake Township.

"We did have some precipitation last June under quarter of an inch for five days," Lee said. "We have a chance of rain this weekend but we're only expecting 30-40%. We don't have high confidence it will be a soaking rain. That's our best chance. The temperatures we're seeing are around average."

Detroit water department crews tended to a water main break last week in the Greenfield neighborhood on the city's northwest side and are tending to it again Tuesday, Peckinpaugh said.

"The issue is all the volume is putting pressure on aging pipes in the city," Peckinpaugh said. "Our pipes are more than 90 years old and while we continue moving across the city to upgrade the aging infrastructure, there were 40 water mains that broke due to the volume of water being pushed."

To reduce the stress on the system, the city is asking residents to cut back on water usage until they address most of the breaks.

"The increased volume of water is not due to any single activity but due to a shear increase of usage due to more lawn and garden watering that is unusual this early in the summer," Peckinpaugh said.

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_