DETROIT (AP) — Torrents of water spew from broken pipesin Detroit’s Crosman School, cascading
down stairs before pooling on thewarped tile of what was once a basketball court.No one knows howlong
the water has flowed through the moldy bowels of the massivebuilding a few miles north of downtown, but
Crosman has been closedsince 2007. It’s not the only empty structure where city water steadilyfills dark
basements or runs into the gutter, wasting money and creatingsafety hazards.As Detroit goes through the
largest municipalbankruptcy in U.S. history, the city’s porous water system illustrateshow some of its
resources are still draining away even as it strugglesto stabilize its finances and provide basic
services.More than30,000 buildings stand vacant in neighborhoods hollowed out by Detroit’slong
population decline, vulnerable to metal scavengers who rip outpipes, leaving the water to flow. The
city’s water system has no way oftracking the leaks, and the water department doesn’t have enough
workersto check every structure."The water was running all lastwinter," said 32-year-old
Delonda Kemp as she pointed to a vandalizedtwo-story bungalow across from her home on Detroit’s
eastside. "You canactually hear it running." She says she reported the leak, but
waterofficials say they have no record of it.The city’s five watertreatment plants pump more than 600
million gallons of drinking wateracross Detroit’s 139 square miles, billing residents for the
volumeused. But as more families have moved away in recent years, oftenwithout notifying the utility,
crews fell behind on shutting off unpaidaccounts."Even after an initial shut-off, residents or
squattersoften bypass the meter and steal water," said Bill Johnson, a waterdepartment spokesman.
"In other cases, once a house is vacated, vandalsand strippers may steal the piping and meter which
causes the water torun undetected."Sometimes, the water can run for years.Inthe former Douglass
Academy on Detroit’s east side, six feet of waterfills a basement boiler room. In an empty house on
Chalmers Street, apulse of water spews every few seconds from the end of a vandalizedpipe. It’s been
going for more than a year.City officials say they have no idea how much is being lost.Itcosts about
$400 to produce a million gallons of drinking water and$800 for every million gallons that go through
treatment facilities."Thewater is wasted on the front end, and second is we end up having totreat
that water" all over again, said William Wolfson, the department’schief operating and compliance
officer.In a city with anestimated $18 billion debt, the department has a debt of about $5.9billion. The
water department has lost more than 400 jobs in the lastfew years, and one study has proposed cutting
half of the 1,700positions left.While city crews have been demolishing vacanthouses in sparsely
populated areas, they haven’t been able to keep upwith the supply. Detroit, which once had 1.8 million
people, is now downto about 700,000.Scrappers swarm into houses shortly after thelast person moves out.
Wiring, copper and metal plumbing are hauled awayfor illegal sale to unscrupulous recyclers. Even a
decorative outdoorfountain in downtown’s popular Hart Plaza was turned off earlier thisyear after its
copper pipes were stolen."They’ll steal anythingthat’s worth stealing," said 65-year-old
Shirley Young, who lives nextdoor to a stripped house on the east side.Beyond the cost of the water, the
flooding causes safety problems.Inthe winter of 2009, the body of a homeless man was found frozen in
theflooded elevator shaft of a vacant warehouse. He had apparently fallenin after a drug overdose.
During the winter, water-covered streetsbecome sheets of ice.During the hot months, the flooded
basementsattract vermin and breed insects.Modern technology can help trackleaks but that’s an expense
that Detroit, with a network of100-year-old cast iron pipes, can’t afford."The infrastructure
isold. It’s extremely expensive to replace pipes and extremelydisruptive," said David Arison, vice
president of Global BusinessRelations for Miya, an Israel-based firm that designs efficient systemsfor
urban areas.Over the past six months, water department crewsand contractors have whittled the backlog of
reported leaks from about350 to 33, said Samuel Smalley, assistant director of Detroit’sWastewater
Operations Group. But that may not be as impressive as itsounds."Those are the ones that we know
about," he said.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.