Detroit takes step toward restoring water to residents after wildfire

Getting water into the pipes in Detroit will be a major benchmark in the rebuilding process.

The city’s water filtration plant was destroyed in the Lionshead Fire in September, and water distribution lines have been empty for the past two months.

The city took a step forward Monday when the City Council opted to lease a membrane filtration unit from Westec and have it installed to use in the short-term.

Detroit Mayor Jim Trett said if everything goes well, non-potable water could be pumping back into the city’s lines by December 1.

But it won't be ready for residents to drink by then. It's going to take longer to determine how much damage has been done to the rest of the water distribution system – much of which was only a few years old – and if there are harmful compounds in the water.

Residents returning to Detroit

After the wildfire destroyed about 250 buildings in the idyllic lakeside resort community, restoring water is one of the most important tasks that needs to be accomplished.

“We actually have people moving back, some of them just because they want to, some of them because they’re being housed by the insurance company,” Trett said.

“They had to move back, even when we told the insurance they don’t have water. And then the Red Cross is beginning to stop keeping people in hotels and rentals and people are anxious. A lot of people who still have homes, they still can’t clean them. It’s our high priority.”

Marion County has been supplying potable water at the city park from noon to 4 p.m. as a short-term solution, but water needs to flow for the city to become viable again.

In other cities that have dealt with the aftermath and rebuilding after wildfires, water quality has been a significant concern.

After the Camp Fire hit Paradise, California in 2018, the city had no residents for months and didn’t run its water treatment for nearly six months after the fire.

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Then when it did, it found significant amounts of benzene, a volatile organic chemical, in parts of the water system. It took 18 months and the replacement of miles of pipe to make the water safe to drink.  

“That was a big mistake,” said Rob Henry, a city engineer for HBH Consulting Engineers who works with Detroit. “They should have been flushing the water system and checking the VOCs as they go.”

How much damage was done?

Detroit won’t know how much damage was done to the water distribution system until it can get water flowing back into the pipes.

Much of that damage could be underground, occurring when the wildfire heated distribution lines.

“They will have to flush out all the debris that has accumulated in the pipes,” said Andrew Whelton, associate professor for the Lyles School of Civic Engineering at Purdue University. “Think of flushing out a bathtub after a kid goes and plays in the mud. They’ve got to flush out all of that debris and re-pressurize it and when they re-pressurize it, they will find leaks.   

“They’ll have to go and shut those valves or they’ll have situations where hydrants are leaking and they’ll have to find that.”

Once water is flowing again, it will take three weeks to flush the pipes and longer for the water to be tested to make sure it meets water quality standards by the Oregon Health Authority to make sure it is safe to drink.

“Any drinking water we provide has to be OHA approved treatment,” Henry said.

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Even if they don’t crack, some plastic pipes can let off harmful compounds.

In many areas impacted by wildfires, such as in California, benzene has been found at harmful levels.

Whelton said testing for benzene requires water to sit in the pipes for 72 hours to determine how much harmful compounds are there, though the OHA is requiring eight hours of stagnation.

And potentially impacted pipes need to be tested repeatedly.

“The theories are that benzene is produced when structures burn,” Whelton said. “Plastics decompose and it goes into the air as a VOC. Then it goes into the air as an ash. When it depressurizes, it would be sucked in.

“There’s also well-established literature showing that forest fires, when you burn vegetation, it can produce benzene and other VOCs.”

How do they pay for it?

Billing residents for drinking water was one of the few revenue sources the city has, but it hasn’t been able to bill since the fire.

Estimates are the water filtration unit Detroit is leasing will cost about $15,000 per month and the initial costs of getting it to Detroit and operating is over $30,000.

The city has applied to USDA for grant funding to pay for the unit.

Trett said FEMA has told the city it is looking into what it can do for a permanent solution, but funding between that agency and the city’s insurance company has to be determined.

Whelton said under federal law, public water systems like Detroit’s are the responsibility of the state.

“One issue is whether or not the state considers what happened to the city of Detroit’s water system as catastrophic. If they do, this kicks in,” Whelton said. “If they don’t, then they’re probably threading the needle so they’re not responsible.”

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Detroit considered buying the unit it will rent from Westec, but that would have cost about $200,000. And once it was used, it would have been worth less than half of that if the city wanted to sell it.

One short-term option considered was to use water treated at the plant of neighboring Idanha, which installed a membrane water treatment facility a year ago. But it was estimated that could cost is $900,000 due to the necessity of a new line.

The city historically took water from Breitenbush Creek to treat for its drinking water and used Mackey Creek as a secondary water source.

But there was significant fire damage around Mackey Creek.

“We’re concerned that’s not going to be a viable water source for the city for a while,” Henry said. 

The previous water treatment facility was on Breitenbush Creek, which is likely where the permanent replacement will be located.

Trett said Detroit has $1 million in its insurance policy that could help cover water treatment, but the city is trying to maximize the money it receives.

“It’s just who’s going to pay what,” Trett said. “Then FEMA is still looking at what they could do with the permanent water treatment plant.”

Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@statesmanjournal.com or Twitter.com/bpoehler 

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