{"id":636124,"date":"2026-05-11T07:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T07:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/636124\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T07:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T07:14:13","slug":"orion-township-combats-dwindling-water-supply-after-auburn-hills-main-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/636124\/","title":{"rendered":"Orion Township combats dwindling water supply after Auburn Hills main break"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. \u2013 On a typical day, the water tower in Orion Township holds 2.5 million gallons of water. That equates to about 44.5 feet of water. At last check, the Orion Township supervisor tells Local 4 that the water is now at about 28.5 feet. It comes after the area lost water supply due to an early morning water break in Auburn Hills. <\/a><\/p>\n

The scarcity is having a real impact. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell I brought a bag with my shampoo and conditioner to my cousin\u2019s house, so I can shower there,\u201d third grader, Ariana Lipscomb, who is from the Orion Township area, said. <\/p>\n

Ariana and her sister, seventh grader Payton Lipscomb, usually spend Sunday night in a familiar routine \u2013 backpacks and bedtime, all before that Monday morning alarm. <\/p>\n

But, this Sunday was different. <\/p>\n

\u201cProbably around like 12 o\u2019clock, like the morning,\u201d Payton said when asked when she found out they would not have school on Monday. <\/p>\n

Lake Orion Community Schools are canceled until at least Tuesday and their area is under a boil water advisory. They\u2019ve been asked to use as little water as possible. <\/p>\n

Their dad, Thomas, went shopping. <\/p>\n

\u201cI went out and grabbed a good 80 gallons of water, like any normal Sunday,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Despite it all, they\u2019re still trying to keep spirits up and people are coming together. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am told a lot of my neighbors are going to the lake and getting buckets. Whatever you gotta do to make it through this time,\u201d Thomas said. <\/p>\n

Local 4 sat down for a one on one with township supervisor Chris Barnett and asked specifically about how they are looking out for the most vulnerable. <\/p>\n

\u201cResidents have absolutely stepped up,\u201d Barnett said. \u201cOur businesses have stepped up. They\u2019ve gotten kicked square in the teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n

They are relocating people living inside the five senior homes and the 7 group homes in the area. <\/p>\n

One of the three spots in Oakland County where the Great Lakes Water Authority has water trucks for drinking water is in Orion Township. <\/p>\n

Barnett tells Local 4 those efforts are ramping up tomorrow. <\/p>\n

Local 4 also asked him if school could be out for longer. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real possibility,\u201d he said. \u201cPart of this whole process is we want to be honest with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several parents say not having school for an extended amount of time has them concerned about childcare. <\/p>\n

But, the third graders tell me they are worried about something else. <\/p>\n

\u201cI also have a field trip on Tuesday,\u201d Ariana said. <\/p>\n

They were set to go on a trip to Lansing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just am really scared they will have to do it next year,\u201d Jackson Jones, another third grader, said. <\/p>\n

The supervisor is asking everyone to hang tight and work together. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are a praying person, pray that what we are doing is going to work,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Barnett also said he\u2019s grateful the governor opened an emergency operations center for Orion Township and the surrounding areas. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. \u2013 On a typical day, the water tower in Orion Township holds 2.5 million gallons…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,274785,274784,451,274227,3,22184,274258,452,453,18408],"class_list":["post-636124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-chris-barnett","tag-glwa","tag-headlines","tag-lake-orion","tag-news","tag-oakland-county","tag-orion-township","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-water-main-break"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}