by Mitch Hotts, originally posted on December 24, 2016

Eastpointe officials say a boil water advisory will remain in place until Monday morning after a traffic accident on Christmas Eve temporarily disrupted water service.

Residents and business owners were without water service for several hours Saturday after a motorist crashed into a surface electrical service box on Gratiot Avenue, north of Eight Mile Road.

The collision disabled electricity to a pressure relief valve at the city’s transfer station that controls the water supply, according to City Manager Steve Duchane.

Duchane said the valve manages the water supply pressure on the main water service from the Great Lakes Water Authority. When it goes out, water pressure decreases across the system.

Duchane said public works crews brought in generators to slowly bring the water pressure back online in increments.

“The system was never contaminated, but our engineers are suggesting people continue to boil the water as a precaution,” Duchane said.

DTE Energy has since reconnected the standard power supply.

City officials are testing water samples under the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and system operations regulations, according to the city manager.

Public Works Supervisor Carol Apley and her staff are overseeing the tests. They expect to lift the advisory Monday morning, pending the results of the final tests.

Duchane said Eastpointe owns a 400,000-gallon underground water reserve system at the public works yard on 10 Mile Road that has been dormant for years. He plans to ask the City Council to re-activate the system in 2017.

In an unrelated incident, a motorist crashed through the fence to the city’s dog park on 10 Mile Road on Friday. Public works crews implemented temporary repairs to the fence after the vehicle was removed.

In both case, after a police investigation and charges are potentially authorized, the city may seek to re-capture some of its costs for the dog park fence and water system repairs through court-ordered restitution, Duchane said.