Water tests invalid; no contamination

Mistake in record-keeping caused delays, violation

 

IMLAY CITY — A drinking water notice was scheduled to be mailed out to water system users within the city limits, highlighting a recent concern by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).

The notice was to go out with the January water bill.

According to a memo sent to City Manager Craig Horton, from DPW Supervisor Ed Priehs, the notice was a requirement due to the “Monitoring and Reporting Violation” the city’s water system received. Priehs said he wanted to give a more indepth report to the city manager and the city commission.

“Every month, the water supply is required to perform four routine bacteria samples of drinking water. In September, two of the samples were not delivered to the lab on time” Priehs advised.

Water departments are required to send their monthly samples to the lab for testing. Imlay City’s test results came back negative for bacteria.

Priehs went on to say, “the timing error was not discovered until a month later, when the samples could not then be resampled in September for compliance. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the Water Supply to review and double check delivery times. This is the reason for the notice and it is required to be sent to all customers.”

Priehs said the water department, “takes any violation seriously. But, to be clear, this was not a case of contaminated drinking water. The water tested negative for bacteria. It has tested negative since, and long before this issue.”

Priehs said the notice came as a result of a record-keeping issue that has been addressed and “will not be an issue moving forward.”

The notice to users, in part, stated; “The September 3, 2024 samples were received by the laboratory on September 5, 2024, after the 30-hour hold time. The laboratory analyzed the samples and reported non-detect results. Those results are invalid and cannot be used for compliance. The hold time issue was not noticed until after the September monitoring period and no replacement samples could be collected. We are making every effort to insure this does not happen again. We returned to compliance October 7, 2024.”

If you have further questions, you can call the Imlay City Water Department at 810-724-8712.