A large section of downtown Detroit has been told that their water could be is unsafe to drink, and that residents should boil it before use.
The boil water advisory was prompted after a water main broke in the downtown area on Sunday, just as a large auto show in the city was set to get started.
“Crews are working through Sunday evening into Monday to replace a 10-15 foot section of the water main,” Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) officials said in a statement.
Water services were not disrupted, that department said, but that the 42-inch pipe break meant that water must be boiled.
Officials hope that the water service will be back up and running by Wednesday or Thursday.
“We don’t know that we had any customers who lost service,” Gary Brown, the director of the DWSD, said during a press conference. “Thy may have lost pressure, but not service”.
The boil water advisory has disrupted local businesses that rely on running water for things like food prep, according toThe Detroit News.
“It makes it hard to do food prep, but we’re handling it okay,” Reilly Reynolds, the manager of Maru Sushi & Grill, told the outlet. They said that they have been using bottled water and buying ice from a nearby shop that sells ice by the bag.
“We’re doing okay now, but if this continues for a while, it’s going to be an intensive process getting everything ready. We’re hoping for the best,” they continued.
A spokeswoman for the North American International Auto Show said that the show would go forward with its planned start day on Monday in spite of the water issues.
