CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich — The City of Cedar Springs alerted residents about chemicals in the city’s drinking water that violated standards set by the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).
City manager Darla Falcon says the public notice is not an emergency or health concern, but felt residents should be aware of the test results and what the city is doing for its 3,561 residents.
“When something happens and we need to let the public know, absolutely, we're right there,” Falcon said.
The test results showed the city’s water exceeded the standard for arsenic, a chemical element found in water. The standard for arsenic is 10 parts per billion (ppb) and the city’s third well tested 11 ppb. Falcon says the test results should not alarm people.
“If you can imagine going to a beach, there's a billion pieces of sand and 11 of them have something wrong with them so it's very, very minor,” Falcon said. "There's no emergency and our water is safe to drink, safe to use and we immediately turned that supply off to our residents.”
Cedar Springs Brewing Company say they have been prepared to conquer any major issues including water by training all of its employees.
“Unfortunately, over the last four years we've had to deal with this sort of thing in the past so our entire staff is ServSafe trained,” David Ringler, director of happiness at Cedar Springs Brewing Company said. "We're prepared with extra precautions with sanitation whether it's from the water or the air becomes an issue.”
Ringler opened the brewery ten years ago and even though he has safety precautions in place, water quality has always been a concern of his.
“Given some of the concerns and neighboring neighborhoods, it's been a concern for the public and certainly for us with water quality and everybody's in the 10 years that we've been here,” Ringler said. You take a little extra time to make sure that you're dealing with a product that's safe.”
Falcon says the city is doing everything to keep the water safe for residents, including replacing the well that violated EGLE’s standards and replacing water pipes.
“We began the process to install another well because the amount of water that was producing in the old well has been declining,” Falcon said. "We've monitored and watched that on a regular basis.”
Falcon says residents who have noticed a yellowish color in their water should simply let the water run for about ten minutes. They say it’s a reaction that happens when the city’s water is flushed.
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