WAYLAND, Mich. — Residents at Yankee Springs Meadows Mobile Home Park in Wayland will be without water for two days next week. Letters taped to doors say the park is working to upgrade it's water supply and drill another well.
Water samples taken in July and October of 2021 found arsenic levels averaging above the drinking water standard of 10ppb. Residents say they weren't told about the July findings until September. On December 15, they got another notice that finally included information about the October readings.
Residents we talked to say they have avoided drinking water from the tap since moving in due to an off taste and occasional smell. Many prefer bottled water and only use municipal water for showers and cleaning dishes.
Park management chose not to comment on the work being done, and the water operators did not comment other than to say they are hoping to find a new spot for a well that will read within safe levels for arsenic and nitrates.
"The information that we got as residents was that they knew about it but it wasn’t anything that we should be alarmed about," Said Brenda Vazquez, a resident at Yankee Springs. "Since there was more public attention brought to it, now we’re more informed."
When it involves arsenic, violations of safe drinking water supply are measured by yearly averages, not through singular readings. According to notices send out by management to residents, those readings happen quarterly.
Even though the July and October readings showed unsafe levels of arsenic, the yearly average sits below the threshold deemed as safe, 10 parts per billion. Because of that, Yankee Springs Meadows has not been penalized.
Despite the struggles residents have faced in the last year, neighbors tell us being informed with this boil water notice and ample time to prepare is a welcome positive sign. Some still expressed frustration over a lack of transparency and answering questions, but others say work being done makes them more confident the issue will be resolved soon.
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