The City of Lapeer sign, seen on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022 near Cramton Park. (Jake May | MLive.com)
LAPEER, MI -- Lead has been found in 76% of water samples tested in the city of Lapeer since an Aug. 13 break in a Great Lakes Water Authority transmission line -- the second community in Michigan’s Thumb that’s seen an increased presence of lead after activating a back-up community water system.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services told MLive-The Flint Journal on Wednesday, Sept. 7, that lead was detected in 89 of 116 samples collected in Lapeer with 38 of those samples exceeding the federal action limit of 15 parts per billion of lead.
Last week, MDHHS said its testing also detected lead in 14 of 22 samples collected in Imlay City after that city -- like Lapeer -- started using well water to counteract dropping water supplies and pressure that accompanied the break in GLWA’s 120-inch transmission line that usually supplies the two cities.
Officials for the two community water systems said this week that a change in their water sources, pressure fluctuations within their distribution systems, or both have likely caused the spikes in lead, which they hope will dissipate after regular service is restored later this month.
State officials have said they do not have enough information to determine the cause of lead detections and are continuing to sample water.
Residents in both communities are being offered free faucet filters and bottled water in response to lead elevations.
An update from GLWA on Tuesday, Sept. 6, says the authority, which supplies pre-treated Lake Huron water to nearly 40 percent of all households in Michigan, estimates to return to normal operations by Sept. 21.
“In a short amount of time, things hopefully will be back in order,” Lapeer City Manager Dale Kerbyson said Wednesday.
Lapeer activated two of its four municipal water wells as pressure dropped in its distribution system following the GLWA line break, but the well water isn’t treated with any corrosion control inhibitors to protect lead or galvanized service lines or lead in home plumbing.
The back-up water supply also causes greater fluctuations in water system pressure, Kerbyson said, and pressure has also been inconsistent in the two weeks since GLWA reconnected the city to a secondary line, allowing it to discontinue the use of well water.
Lapeer is in the midst of a program to remove and replace service lines at 107 homes and to excavate service line connections at more than 500 other homes where some portions of the connection could be made of lead or galvanized material, according to the city manager.
Last week, the city distributed faucet filters to those 500-plus homes and the Lapeer County Health Department issued a recommendation that residents there use the devices.
In Imlay City, results from sampling at 23 addresses show at least some lead detected in 42 samples where results have been reported as of Wednesday. Four samples were taken from each address in Lapeer and Imlay City, DHHS said, and lead levels have ranged from non-detect to 19 ppb. No lead was detected in 50 of 92 total samples.
Imlay City Public Works Supervisor Ed Priehs said the city is still working to determine how many lead or galvanized service lines exist in the water system.
More than half of the connections in the city are confirmed to have neither lead nor galvanized steel lines, he said, but at a minimum, there are some goose-neck connections made of lead.
Like Lapeer, the city’s well water system isn’t equipped to add chemicals that would help prevent lead from leaching into the water system.
“GLWA has a corrosion-control inhibitor. When you introduce a new water, you take those inhibitors off the pipes,” Priehs said.
MDHHS spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin said in an email to The Journal that test results are not available for the village of Almont, a third community in southeast Michigan that also used a back-up municipal well system following the GLWA line break.
A boil water advisory has been lifted in Almont, according to the village’s website, but officials are asking residents to restrict water use by refraining from outside watering so that pressure can be maintained.
Water is being tested for lead and up to 11 additional water parameters, Sutfin said.
The Journal could not immediately reach a GLWA representative for comment on Wednesday.
The authority said in a message posted on its website that its Lake Huron Water Treatment Plant has begun producing the 81 million gallons of water needed to fill the 26 miles of water main before it can be returned to service. The authority’s message says it is working with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy on a flushing and disinfection plan for the transmission main.
Read more at The Flint Journal:
Lead found at 14 of 22 homes tested in Imlay City after GLWA water line break
Imlay City offering filters, bottled water after testing shows lead in several homes
Consultant wants slide presentation from Flint kids in water crisis mistrial
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