By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — One year after its first notice to residents about the issue, the City of Three Rivers is still dealing with an action level exceedance of lead in its drinking water system.
On Aug. 8, the city announced it once again has a continued lead action level exceedance through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) for its drinking water system, meaning that locations within the system had test results over 15 parts per billion (ppb) of lead, which is the Action Level for the Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the city, the 90th percentile of lead and copper results collected in a sample of 44 locations between January and June 2024 had six homes over 15 ppb. Because more than 10 percent of homes tested had results over 15 ppb, it exceeded the Action Level for the city, which is a measure of corrosion control effectiveness and not a health-based standard.
In a report mailed to residents in the city in the past week, the range of results from the 44 homes tested were from 0 ppb to 97 ppb, with the 90th percentile value listed as 28 ppb.
As they did with the last two action level exceedances, the city stressed that it does not mean all of the water in the city contains elevated lead levels.
“The elevated lead levels have only been found in some (not all) of the lead service lines,” a Q&A sheet provided by the city stated. “The water wells that provide water to the city of Three Rivers were tested for lead and the results were not detected (means if there is any lead in them the value is so low the test is unable to detect it).”
While there may not be lead in the water supply, lead can still enter drinking water when it’s in contact with pipes, solder, or other parts of a home’s plumbing that may contain lead, according to the city.
“The more time water has been sitting in your home’s pipes, the more lead it may contain. Therefore, if your water has not been used for several hours, run the water before using it for drinking or cooking,” the city stated in its notice to residents. “This flushes lead-containing water from the pipes. Additional flushing may be required for homes that have been vacant or have a longer service line.”
Because of the action level exceedance, it triggers additional actions that the city needs to take, including educational outreach to customers, ongoing sampling every six months, assessing the corrosivity of the water, and service line replacement. The city is still reportedly taking inventory of service line materials in the city, something that has been going on for more than a year.
The same report also noted the range of results of copper testing was 0 parts per million (ppm) to 0.9 ppm in the 44 homes tested, which did not exceed the action level for that material.
The report of action level exceedance comes one year after the city first notified residents of the action level exceedance in Aug. 3, 2023. Since then, some residents have organized to try to get the city to give out free water bottles and more free water filters to a wider swath of residents, as well as trying to get the city to more quickly replace lines. A small protest of the water issues in the city, organized by the Three Rivers Clean Water Campaign, took place outside City Hall prior to the Tuesday, Aug. 20 Three Rivers City Commission meeting.
In the first test reported on Aug. 3, 2023, the city said six homes out of 47 tested had levels over 15ppb, while in the second test, five of 45 homes tested had exceeded levels.
According to the Q&A document from the city, the city is continuing to distribute free filters and cartridges provided by the Department of Health and Human Services, however they are only for “eligible” customers. Those eligible, according to the city, have to meet certain requirements: They have or are unsure of having lead/galvanized plumbing or a lead service line carrying water from the street to their residence, and have a Medicaid-enrolled child or children under 19 or are a Medicaid-enrolled pregnant person.
The free filters can be obtained at the Department of Public Services office at 1015 S. Lincoln Ave. in Three Rivers from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, City Hall at 333 W. Michigan Ave. in Three Rivers from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, and the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency office at 1110 Hill St. from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
In its Q&A document, the city noted the action level will be lowered from 15 ppb to 12 ppb beginning in January 2025, which could affect how long the action level exceedance may continue.
“We may not be successful in being done with the exceedance until we can put some of our medium-term and long-term solutions into place,” the document stated.
Those medium- and long-term solution, according to the document, include water main and service line replacements on major roadway construction projects, service line material verification at the curb stop, service line replacements on an “emergency” basis, service line replacements with construction projects, and utilizing a Technical, Managerial, and Financial (TMF) grant from EGLE to identify lead service line locations.
“Step one is confirming where the lead lines are. This is the step we are currently in,” the Q&A document stated in response to a question about why the city hasn’t replaced all of the service lines in the city as of yet. “Once we have a group confirmed in an area, we will begin coordinated plans to replace the service lines with other construction work. Since before the 1980’s, the City has been replacing lead service lines as they are discovered during a water main replacement project.”
City officials recommend running water to flush out lead-containing water; using a filter; not using hot water for drinking, preparing food, or cooking, or preparing baby formula; not boiling water; cleaning your faucet aerator; and check to see whether your house has a lead service line.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
