OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. — The governor declared a state of emergency on Sunday following a 42-inch waterline break in Auburn Hills.
Officials from the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) said they discovered the waterline, located in Riverwood Park, to be leaking on May 6 before it ruptured at 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, impacting water services for communities in Auburn Hills, Pontiac, Rochester Hills, Orion Township, Lake Orion, and Oakland Township.
Orion Township, the Village of Lake Orion, and the northern section of Auburn Hills are no longer receiving water from GLWA, officials said. Crews isolated the break just before noon, according to a post on GLWA’s X account, which shut off service for these communities.
Officials said water pressure will begin to drop following the isolation of the break and will be completely lost within six to 12 hours.
A precautionary boil water advisory is also in effect for all of Rochester Hills due to a drop in water pressure from the break.
No estimate of when water service will be restored is yet available, however, GLWA officials said community members should be prepared to be out of water for a minimum of two weeks.
An outage map from the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) following a water main break in Auburn Hills, Mich., on May 10, 2026. Though the map is labeled as “potential outage map,” initially made in preparation for a possible water main break after finding a leak on May 6, GLWA posted the map following the break on May 10 and labeled it their outage map. (GLWA/WWMT)
GLWA is keeping water trucks stationed at the Wildwood Amphitheater, Auburn Hills Department of Public Works and Atwater Park to provide water to impacted communities, and in declaring a state of emergency, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer authorized the use of all available state resources to assist with response, recovery and ensuring residents have access to water, according to officials from the Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division.
A map showing where Great Lakes Water Authority trucks are posted to provide community members water following a waterline break in Auburn Hills, Mich., on May 10, 2026. (Great Lakes Water Authority/WWMT)
When they found the leak on May 6, GWLA said they tried to reroute water and avoid a break, however, the waterline burst before the rerouting could be completed. Now, crews are working to remove standing water at the break site, remove the damaged pipe and replace it.
Once they replace the pipe it will be filled, disinfected, and flushed. Water quality samples will then need to pass testing before the watermain can be returned to service, and at that point, communities will need to fill and flush their systems and conduct their own water quality sampling.