Detroit — Two pump stations on Detroit's east side are now using power supplied by DTE Energy, after spotty service from Detroit's Public Lighting Department contributed to flooding in the area after a storm last June, Great Lakes Water Authority officials announced Tuesday.

Both the Freud and Blue Hill pump stations are now using power from the region's largest electric utility. Two others on Detroit's west side will be switched to DTE this spring, possibly by July, said Navid Mehram, chief operating officer of the Great Lakes Water Authority, a regional organization that handles water and sewer services for 88 communities.

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GLWA Interim CEO Suzanne Coffey also showed off three new transformers at the Tuesday press conference at the Freud Pump Station.

"What this does is to make sure that we have good reliable power to pump as much as we can," Coffey said. "I would tell you the limitation in the system is the pipes. This is why it's such a big problem."

Wayne County experienced widespread flooding after a June 24 storm last year, from Detroit and the Grosse Pointes on the east side to Dearborn and the west side of Detroit. Homeowners who were flooded have sued the GLWA. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency.

Mehram explained that the transformers power the pumps inside the station. During the June 2021 storm, unreliable power "limited the pumps that were available to us," he said.

Each of the three transformers can support three pumps or a total of nine pumps; there are eight pumps inside Freud, meaning there is more power capacity than pumps available.

"During the conversion effort, GLWA did tests on all of our electrical equipment that support the pumps and through that all the testing turned out good," Mehram said. "It showed that all of our equipment are functioning well and ready for the spring storm." 

In addition to the three transformers at Freud, two at Blue Hill Pump Station are now on DTE Energy. Power quality monitoring has been installed at Freud, Blue Hill and Conner Creek pump stations, allowing the system to monitor in real time the strength of the electrical connection powering those facilities, authority officials said. 

Coffey said the system's design hasn't changed from last year. It can still process about 1.7 inches of water in an hour.

"But what more commonly occurs is rain over the course of a day," Coffey said.

The system can process about 3.3 inches of rain in 24 hours, she added. 

"When you see us notify communities or people about the fact that we're concerned about rain, it's because we're seeing a forecast that is more than, say, 3.5 inches in a day," Coffey said.

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The addition of DTE service and the transformers will help the system reach that capacity, rather than fall short of it, she said. 

Coffey said GLWA's final report on what led to the widespread flooding after last year's storm is expected later this month.