Water System Superintendent Mark Glessner provided an update on the city's water system during Tuesday's Three Rivers City Commission meeting.

The water system operated by the City of Three Rivers was in the spotlight Tuesday evening (October 20th) as Water System Superintendent Mark Glessner provided an update on the subject.

A three-page report on “Drinking Water Quality” was at the heart of Glessner’s presentation at the beginning of the commission meeting.

The presentation touched on wells and pumpage, storage, distribution system sampling, and other protective measures.

The printed report, submitted by Glessner and City Manager Joe Bippus, explained the testing process used by the city.  It said, “We generally do not have issues with this testing but, as of late, a problem has been occurring with the sampling points at the Clean Water Plant and the Department of Public Services buildings.  The problem has been confined to these sites only and could be a result of inadequate flows in this portion of the system.  No confirmed positives or any E-coli have been found, but some sort of problem exists which we are working diligently to correct.”

In his comments to the commission, Glessner said, “We’ve gone a few weeks without having any positive samples.  It looks like we may have that problem taken care of.  I surely hope so.”

Glessner noted pressure by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the city to routinely chlorinate the community’s drinking water supply, something it has not done to this point.  He indicated he met with the DEQ recently and said, “It’s very clear the chlorination issue is on the table at the DEQ.  They made it abundantly clear that issue is not going away.  They want us to chlorinate our water and they are looking for a way to make that happen.”

Regarding the city’s water system, Glessner said, “I feel we’re fortunate.”  And, in noting the recent series of positive samples, he said, “Everybody down there at DPS – we’re pretty hurt by this, too.  I want everybody to understand that this is not fun for us.  This is embarrassing almost, but we’ve been very proud to be this large of a city and not have to chlorinate our water by having such a tight system.  We want to be proactive with our chlorination so there’s not a possibility of cross connection out there.”

Discussion during the meeting included comments by Commissioner Ken Baker about a community somewhere out West with what he described as “a pilot program” in which the municipality chlorinates on a monthly basis.  Mayor Allen Balog reacted favorably to Baker’s comments and asked city staff to do some research.  He suggested trying to be more proactive and “meet the DEQ in the middle and say, ‘Can we try this?  Give us a year of doing it this way and see how things go and kind of combat them that way.”

Commissioner Daryl Griffith asked, “What’s the next step with the DEQ?”  Glessner said, “We’ve been turned over to the Enforcement Division and I do not know.”

There was conversation about putting the chlorination issue up for a public vote, but there was a question about whether such a decision can be made by the citizens.  City Attorney Pat O’Malley was asked to research the matter.

Regarding the DEQ, Glessner said, “They are here to protect us, just as we are all here to protect our citizens.  We’re all working for the same thing.”

To read the Drinking Water Quality report, click here.