Nearly one million Michigan residents were placed under a boil water advisory after the discovery of a transmission main leak.
The leak was discovered early Saturday in a main that distributes water from the Lake Huron Water Treatment Facility, according to the Great Lakes Water Authority (GWLA).
Roughly 935,000 people in 23 communities across the Greater Detroit area were subsequently put under an advisory to boil water before use.
Crews worked quickly to repair the leak about a mile west of the treatment facility, GLWA said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer activated the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) at 4pm in response to the break.
“Our top priority right now is protecting the public health and safety of Michigan residents until this water main is fixed as quickly as possible,” the governor said.
“I have activated the State Emergency Operations Center to ensure that every possible resource is available to GLWA and the impacted communities to accomplish that goal. I’m grateful to all of the first responders, utility workers, leadership at the county and municipal levels, and everyone else who is working hard to make sure our neighbors have safe water.
“We will continue to work with local officials and are prepared to offer the full weight of state resources to get the job done.”
By Saturday evening, the number of residents under the advisory dropped to 300,000, CNN reported.
Among the communities affected was the City of Flint, which has been fraught with water issues for years since its supplies were contaminated with dangerous levels of lead in 2014 when officials switched to a cheaper source.
