the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Mar 3, 2025
A water main broke in Southwest Detroit. The resulting flooding damaged nearly 400 homes, going up to the first floor in some, and destroying water heaters and other appliances in many. The swirling 5-foot-deep river pushed many cars down the flooded streets, destroying or severely damaging many.
Officials expect it to take six weeks before all repairs are done. One week after the break, close to 700 people were still living in local hotels, depending on donations for water and food, much of which was substandard.
This break is nothing new. The pipe that broke was a 54-inch transmission line installed in 1930. The city has thousands of miles of water mains that were made between the late 1800s and the 1940s. It constantly has crews working to replace the lines, but they can’t keep up enough to prevent more from breaking.
In winter, the ground freezes and shifts, and some old pipes inevitably break, damaging people’s homes and cars and disrupting many lives.
The city of Detroit may be making efforts to replace the water lines, but they should have been replaced long ago. The city admits these cast-iron pipes are expected to have about a 50-year lifespan. But instead of fixing the city’s infrastructure, the politicians are too busy giving tax breaks to the big corporations and billionaires like Dan Gilbert and the Ilitches. What a joke!