Oakland County Water Main Break: Businesses, Residents Adjust

NOVI, MI — The Oakland County water main break closed numerous Novi businesses Tuesday and forced others to find creative ways to remain open.

Bill Mueller has owned and operated a Subway restaurant on 10 Mile Road near Meadowbrook for the past 30 years. He said he brought water from his home in Plymouth Township rather than trying to boil water.

“I brought 10 five-gallon pails here to work,” Mueller said. “That way we were able to wash our produce, wash the dishes and keep everything safe.”

He said it would be enough to get through about half of the day. Mueller planned to run home for more Tuesday afternoon. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Novi Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

>>>Power Surge Blamed For Break

Everything at the Subway restaurant that was hooked to city water was shut down, he said. It included the store’s soda fountain and iced tea maker.

While Novi hasn’t had a water main break of this magnitude, Mueller said a large power outage in 2003 forced him into a similar procedure for getting water. He wasn’t sure what to expect as far as the volume of business.

“Right now, the schools are closed and when that happens, everyone kind of goes out to eat,” said Mueller. “We may lose business by having our fountain machine down, but we might make up for it in sandwiches. We’re not exactly sure.”

At the nearby Busch’s Fresh Food Market, the store opened well before its normal 7 a.m. to stock as many customers as possible. Additional bottled water was being shipped in from other nearby Busch’s, an employee said.

Novi resident Elizabeth McKinley was picking up water for her family, which includes two sons, her husband, three cats and a dog. She said the water shortage caused by the break was an inconvenience.

“We haven’t showered yet today,” McKinley said. “We boiled some water last night. We’re just trying to make sure we’ve got enough for the animals to have their water and us, too.”

She said her sister lives in Wayne County, and that they planned to go there to shower later in the day.

“I’ve never dealt with anything like this before,” said McKinley. “We will deal with it. It’s just a slight inconvenience.”

For China Cafe owners Susana and Kelly Chang, the water main break was bit more than an inconvenience. Tuesday afternoon’s lunch “crowd” in Novi was only about 25 percent of normal, Kelly Chang said.

“Usually by this time, this place is packed,” he said at about 12:45 p.m.

Susana Chang said the restaurant had normal water pressure around noon Tuesday. She said their home, also in Novi, had low water pressure Tuesday morning.

Kelly Chang said China Cafe was only serving bottled water and soda, no coffee. In addition, he said cooks were boiling all soups to ensure safety.

“The big problem is the bathroom,” Kelly Chang said. “With no water pressure, you can’t flush. People come here, they need to use the bathroom and wash their hands.”

While acknowledging the break may hurt China Cafe’s bottom line, Kelly Chang said the restaurant has survived other issues beyond his control.

“It hurts and it’s unexpected, but you just have to deal with it,” he said. “Life goes on.”

Photos by Scott Daniel (Patch Staff)