City staff will collect 50 water samples across the drinking water system today, and hand deliver them to an environmental testing laboratory in Holland.
The state Department of Environmental Quality provided a list of addresses meant to be representative of the city’s water system – this includes residential and commercial locations, as well as water source wells at the city’s Verona Pumping Station.
City staff are working to contact neighbors at the addresses given, and will sample water at nearby locations if necessary, should the given locations be inaccessible. Staff will take samples from the faucet, to be as representative as possible of the city’s water.
Samples will be collected from the Cities of Battle Creek and Springfield, Bedford, Emmett, Leroy, and Pennfield townships. In Leroy Township, only one customer receives water from Battle Creek.
City officials will work with the Holland lab to expedite results, which will be reviewed by the state DEQ to determine when it is appropriate to lift the drinking water advisory.
The following water distribution locations will continue to operate on the following schedule, providing one case of water every 24 hours to city families with infants under 12 months old –
- Battle Creek City Hall, 10 N. Division St. – 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
- Battle Creek Department of Public Works, 150 S. Kendall St. – 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday
- Battle Creek Police Department, 20 N. Division St. – 8 a.m.-8 p.m. seven days a week
- 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week at city fire stations 1-6:
- Fire Station 1, 195 E. Michigan Ave.
- Fire Station 2, 145 N. Washington Ave.
- Fire Station 3, 222 Cliff St.
- Fire Station 4, 8 S. 20th St.
- Fire Station 5, 1170 W. Michigan Ave.
- Fire Station 6, 2401 Capital Ave. SW
- We're also aware that Springfield City Hall will be open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. today to distribute water to Springfield families, and the Emmett Township Department of Public Safety, 621 Cliff St. will distribute water from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Pennfield Township also has water available at the fire station, 20230 Capital Ave. NE.