Rochester Hills residents who lost water pressure or faced boil-water advisories after repeated pipe failures on 14 Mile Road will get a permanent fix: an $81 million replacement of the aging water main responsible for the disruptions.
The Great Lakes Water Authority announced the two-phase project July 21. Construction begins in mid-November 2026 and will run through early 2028, with traffic impacts along 14 Mile Road in western Oakland County.
The 48-inch prestressed concrete cylinder pipe between Haggerty Road and Farmington Road in Farmington Hills has ruptured four times in seven years, most recently in September 2025 and March 2026. A separate break on a similar pipe in Auburn Hills on May 10, knocked out water to parts of northwest Rochester Hills and Oakland Township, forcing Rochester Community Schools to provide bottled water.
What's being built
Phase one replaces three miles of that failing pipe with 54-inch steel pipe designed to last approximately 75 years, according to GLWA. Phase two, beginning after phase one wraps, will inspect an additional three miles of pipe extending east to GLWA's Franklin Pump Station on Inkster Road and install an acoustic fiber optic monitoring system that continuously detects leaks and wire breaks before they cause failures.
GLWA became the first Michigan utility to deploy that monitoring technology earlier in 2026 on a nearby section of 14 Mile Road in Novi.
How it's paid for
The $81 million comes from GLWA's capital fund balance through a combination of up-front payments and bonds. It is not a new tax or special assessment on residents.
"We have not experienced anything like this anywhere else in the system, so it was not a hard decision to make this the highest priority," GLWA CEO Suzanne Coffey said at the July 21 announcement. "What was hard was finding the money to do it."
If another major break hits elsewhere in the system, the authority would lack the flexibility to fund a similar response, she said.
Local impact
The physical construction zone sits in Farmington Hills, not Rochester Hills. But Rochester Hills and Oakland Township residents are downstream customers of this same transmission main. When it breaks, pressure drops ripple east.
GLWA said it anticipates little to no disruption to water service during construction. The authority is working with the Oakland County Road Commission on a traffic management plan to be released before work begins in November.
No Rochester Hills or Oakland Township officials have commented publicly on the project announcement.
What's next
GLWA is planning public open houses for affected communities. Dates and locations have not been announced. The authority said details will be released once finalized.
