SOCWA Water Supply Updates

There is an issue with the 48″  SOCWA water main which supplies water to Pleasant Ridge. The issue is located in the City of Royal Oak, but the main has to be shut down in order to address the problem. This requires Pleasant Ridge to be switched over to emergency connections for our water supply.

Wednesday, May 11 Update
The SOCWA issue has been resolved and we are back on our main water supply.
 
Wednesday, May 4 Updates
  • SOCWA made adjustments to our emergency supply to address the pressure issues we experienced on May 3.
  • SOCWA removed us from the transmission main mid-morning today. We were on the emergency supply for a period of time. Pressure in our system was about 40 psi, which is lower than normal, but acceptable to provide continued water service.
  • The Zoo and parts of Huntington Woods still experienced unacceptable pressure drops. SOCWA re-opened the transmission main until they can identify the cause of those pressure drops.
  • SOCWA expects to shut the transmission main down again in the coming days.
  • Given our acceptable experience today, we believe that our Pleasant Ridge supply issues have been resolved.
  • Once SOCWA can fully shut down the transmission main they will be able to identify the issue. We will report any new information about how long the repairs are expected to take, and how long we should expect to be on the emergency supply. 
Tuesday, May 3 Updates
  • SOCWA shut off our main water supply at about 9:20 am on Tuesday, May 3. The emergency supply was not adequate to maintain usable water pressure in the system. Our water pressure dropped to about 10 psi at the SOCWA meter. 
  • We expect that water pressure was maintained in our local water mains, but most residents experienced very low or no water pressure. We expect that water pressure inside of homes would be highest in the basement and lowest on upper floors.
  • The Detroit Zoo also experienced a loss of water pressure.
  • SOCWA has re-opened our main transmission line until the emergency supply issue can be resolved.
  • SOCWA has supplied the City and the Zoo using this emergency connection in the past. Water pressure was adequate at that time, but was not today.
  • SOCWA is checking valves in their system and Huntington Woods’ system to identify the upstream issue that is impacting our emergency connection.
For Tomorrow (May 4):
  • SOCWA will attempt the shutdown again tomorrow morning, around 8 am.
  • SOCWA is arranging to open an additional emergency connection with the City of Ferndale. Ferndale is not part of SOCWA, so it is not normal operating procedure to open a connection with Ferndale. Given the circumstances, a connection will be opened when the SOCWA transmission main is shut down again to ensure that we have multiple points of supply to maintain adequate system pressure.

This notice will be updated as we get additional information.

SOCWA can be reached at 248-288-5150.

Scroll to Top