DETROIT (WXYZ) — The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has responded to more than a few dozen water main breaks this week, according to spokesman Bryan Peckinpaugh.
One of the latest related breaks is at the intersection of Karl Street and Bentler Street, where water gushed from a manhole cover.
Charles Williams, who's lived on the street for 14 years, said he didn't initially see the gushing, but he saw the street flooding.
“I noticed it last night, and I knew it wasn’t the ice melting on the block like that because it was so much of it. Then I looked out at it this morning and it was really worse," Williams told 7 News Detroit.
He said he noticed the gushing water when he drove off Thursday morning. A crew from the DWSD stopped by Karl Street Thursday evening to assess and address the problem.
A spokesman for the department told 7 News Detroit the flooding and icy conditions on Karl Street stem from two things. One, there’s a broken valve gate on the water man. Secondly, the catch basins are clogged.
Crews worked to clear the catch basins, and the water receded significantly.
DWSD said the broken valve gate is scheduled to be repaired Friday.
Related video: Water main break leaves cars covered in ice on Dearborn Heights street
“I just hope it don’t freeze by tomorrow and everything 'cause driving on that, it’s gone be kinda bad trying to park and everything,” Williams said.
His neighbor, Russell Little, said, “Well, as you can see, it’s starting to ice up now because the temperature’s dropping. We kinda got the water to go down but now, we need to get the ice up.”
Little, who's lived on the street for 25 years, said he went out about four times on Thursday to unclog the catch basins near his home.
"We need 'em to plow, maybe salt and help us out a little bit," Little said.
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It turns out, the city had a salt truck on the way.
DWSD said they've reduced the valve pressure to reduce flooding. Residents still have running water, but the water pressure may be lower as crews work to tackle one water main-related call after another.
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"I understand — it's cold and it happens. It happens over here a lot. So, the main thing is keeping these two drains open and if we can get it to melt, ya know, we can keep the water down. But the drains are open. It's just the water's coming," Little said.
