UPDATE: The first round of testing is coming back negative, but the MDEQ is going to require that we keep the boil water advisory in effect until a second set of tests come back negative. With this requirement from MDEQ, the soonest the Advisory would be lifted is Tomorrow, Sunday at 3 pm
Bring tap water to a
rolling boil, boil for one minute, and cool before using. Or use bottled water.
Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, washing
dishes, brushing teeth, and preparing food until further notice.
This
Boil Water Notice applies to customers of the East Lansing or Meridian
Township Water Systems.
What Happened
?
Your water is routinely monitored for turbidity (cloudiness) to
determine if it is being properly filtered. Water samples taken on August 5,
2016 had turbidity levels of up to 4.6 NTU turbidity units. This is above the allowable standard of 1.0
NTU turbidity units. Because of the
elevated turbidity, there is an increased chance that your drinking water may
contain harmful microbes.
Turbidity
alone has no health effects. But it can
interfere with disinfection, allow harmful
microbes to
grow, and may indicate the presence of harmful microbes, including bacteria,
viruses, and parasites. These can cause
diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms and may pose a special
health risk for infants, some elderly, and people with severely compromised
immune systems.
But these symptoms are not just caused by microbes in
drinking water.
If
you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you should seek medical
advice.
What is being done ?
The elevated
turbidity levels were caused by an upset in the performance of filters at the
East Lansing – Meridian Water Treatment Plant.
As of 10:00 a.m.
on August 5th, filter performance has been restored and turbidity
levels at the Plant are returning to normal. Water samples are being taken
throughout the City and Township to determine if any microbial contamination
has occurred, but results of those samples will not be available for at least
24 hours.
It is likely
that you will need to boil water for the next 24 to 48 hours until the problem
is fixed. You will be informed when
tests show that you no longer need to boil your water.
For
more information, please contact:
Clyde
Dugan of the East Lansing – Meridian Water and Water and Sewer Authority
at (517) 337-7535 or cdugan.elmwsa@att.net.
The Water Plant State I.D. # is WSSN 1995 or the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Lansing Office; Amy Lachance
at (616) 490 9590 or Bethel Skinker at (517) 290-0686.
