All City of Battle Creek water customers are under a boil water advisory until further notice, due to an incident with a large water transmission line near Verona Pumping Station.
This includes all City of Battle Creek neighbors on the city water system, the entire City of Springfield, and the following townships served by city water – Bedford, Emmett, Leroy and Pennfield.
The damage has caused water pressure to decrease to levels that could allow contamination to enter the water system. We understand some areas of the system are without water at this time.
City staff are taking steps to isolate the incident and re-establish water system pressure. Staff will take samples to verify water quality prior to lifting this boil water advisory.
We don’t currently have a timeline for this work, but will provide updates as more information becomes available.
Below is additional information about what a boil advisory means. Please note that, due to increased call volumes coming into city offices, you may not be able to get through.
We apologize for the inconvenience, and ask everyone to please share this information widely.
DRINKING WATER ADVISORY
BOIL YOUR WATER BEFORE USING
A portion of the City of Battle Creek water system has been shut down for improvements or repairs. Whenever the pressure of a municipal water system is reduced to allow for work to be done on the water main, the potential for bacteria to enter the system exists. Bacteria are generally not harmful and are common throughout our environment. As a safeguard to your health, The City of Battle Creek is ADVISING you to boil water before using it for consumption.
What should I do?
The City of Battle Creek advises that you DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.
What is being done?
These precautionary actions are being taken due to the need to de-water a portion of the water distribution system to facilitate improvements or repairs. Whenever the pressure of a water system is reduced to this degree for any significant length of time, precautionary measures are recommended.
The City of Battle Creek will be working to get pressure restored as soon as possible after the work is completed. The water division staff will be taking other actions such as flushing and collecting bacteriological samples from around the affected area. The samples will be collected to determine that the water quality meets the state drinking water standards. The City of Battle Creek will inform newspaper, radio, and television media when tests show no bacteria and you no longer need to boil your water.
The sampling process required to make this determination takes a minimum of 24 hours but may take longer if needed. This boil water advisory shall remain in effect until results from the sampling verify the water is safe to drink. Customers will be advised, through the newspaper, radio, and television media when the boil water advisory has been lifted.
For more information, please contact Perry Hart at 269-966-3481 or The City of Battle Creek Verona Pumping Station at 269-966-3493.
General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
Perry Hart, Waterworks System Operator, S-1 Certification #15893 00450
CERTIFICATION: WSSN
cc: Local Health Department
Michigan Department of Agriculture
MDNRE