By Maggie LaNoue
Contributing Writer
Every day, nearly three million gallons of water flow into Albion’s wastewater treatment plant. The problem is that only about half of it should be there.
Albion’s pump stations move roughly 1.4 to 1.5 million gallons of wastewater through the city’s sewer system each day. But the treatment plant receives 2.7 to 2.9 million gallons, almost double that amount. The difference, engineers say, is groundwater and likely river water seeping into aging clay pipes through thousands of cracked joints and deteriorating seams.
“We have at least a million gallons coming in that we have no idea where it’s coming from,” said Public Works Director Jason Kern at the April 20 Albion City Council meeting.
Three separate underground systems run beneath every Albion street: water mains that bring clean drinking water in, sanitary sewer lines that carry wastewater out to the treatment plant, and storm sewer systems that handle rainwater runoff. When a road is reconstructed, engineers must evaluate all three before the pavement goes back down. The April 20 presentation focused on the sanitary sewer system, and what it found was not encouraging.
Mickey Bittner, P.E., of Wightman has worked on Albion infrastructure projects for many years, presenting at town halls, city council meetings, and offering to speak with anyone who wants to understand the condition of the city’s underground systems. He explained the likely cause of the excess flow. Much of Albion’s sewer system is clay pipe installed in six-foot sections, meaning a joint every six feet, for miles. “It’s old, it’s brittle,” Bittner said. Low-lying areas near the Kalamazoo River are prime suspects for groundwater infiltration, he added.
The connection between the river corridor and Albion’s underground systems runs deeper than most residents realize. The Marshall sandstone aquifer underlies low-lying areas near the river just two to three feet below the surface and is highly vulnerable to runoff from storm sewers and surface pollution, according to an Albion College geologist who spoke at a March 2026 community town hall on the Kalamazoo River corridor. A historic artesian well at Victory Park Spring, once a favorite spot for residents to draw fresh drinking water, sits directly above that aquifer. A sign posted by the Michigan Department of Public Health now warns that the water is unsafe for drinking or domestic use.
