Overview:

  • A 42-inch water main broke in Auburn Hills on Sunday after a leak discovered Wednesday could not be repaired in time, prompting emergency water restrictions in four Oakland County communities.
  • Residents in Orion Township, Lake Orion, Rochester Hills, and Auburn Hills are instructed to use water only for hydration and basic sanitation, with repairs expected to take more than a week.
  • Governor Whitmer declares a state of emergency while the Great Lakes Water Authority distributes bottled water at three locations and works to repair the broken pipe.

By BRETT DAHLBERG
Michigan Public

Update: Sunday, May 10, 7:39 p.m.

After estimating that four southeast Michigan communities could be without tap water for close to two weeks, the Great Lakes Water Authority said Sunday evening that it is targeting Monday or Tuesday to replace a broken section of 42-inch water main in Auburn Hills.

The water authority did not say how that would affect the timeline of restoring water service to residents, though the process typically involves days of testing to ensure drinking water quality after an outage.

Original post: Sunday, May 10, 2026, 3:41 p.m.

The Great Lakes Water Authority has instructed four southeast Michigan communities to restrict their water usage to only what is “absolutely necessary for hydration and basic sanitation.”

The alert on Sunday followed a leak in a 42-inch water main in Auburn Hills that was discovered Wednesday. The water authority was trying to fix the leak before the pipe ruptured entirely, but the main broke before that work could be finished.

That led officials to warn residents in Orion Township, the village of Lake Orion, and the cities of Rochester Hills and Auburn Hills that their water supplies could be depleted long before service is restored.

“This is not a drill. This is a very serious situation and we need your attention,” said Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett at a Sunday news conference. “It’s going to be very uncomfortable for our residents.”

A map shows the locations of Great Lakes Water Authority trucks providing drinking water in Southeast Michigan as communities deal with the effects of a water main break.
A map shows the locations of Great Lakes Water Authority trucks providing drinking water in Southeast Michigan as communities deal with the effects of a water main break.

Barnett said the repair to restore water service could take more than a week, and the local water tower only had water for about a day under normal usage conditions.

Residents should not do laundry or water their yards, Barnett said, in an effort to slow the depletion of the water supply.

Barnett said the village’s requests to shut down businesses began with car washes, but “quickly expanded to literally every business.”

“Unless you are providing lifesaving services for our residents … we are asking you to not use water,” he said.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in Oakland County in response to the water main break.

Crews had isolated the broken pipe and were working to remove standing water so they could start repair work Sunday, the water authority said.

Meanwhile, the agency said it’s providing bottled water at three locations in the communities that are being told to restrict their usage.

GLWA said it’s sent three water trucks that can provide residents with 2,000 one-gallon water containers to the following sites:

Orion Township: Wildwood Amphitheater, 2700 Joslyn Court
Auburn Hills: Auburn Hills Department of Public Works, 1500 Brown Road
Village of Lake Orion: Atwater Park, 426 Atwater Street

The water trucks “will provide water to the impacted communities as long as the emergency water outage continues,” the agency said.

DRINKING WATER COVERAGE