The City of Kalamazoo has sped past its goal to deliver thousands of lead water filters to city residents.
As of September, more than 7,200 water filters have been distributed through a partnership with the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services and the City of Kalamazoo. Since July, Public Services officials, along with representatives from Community Planning and Economic Development, have embarked on a door-knocking campaign to alert residents to the water filter initiative and distribute a goal of 7,000 free lead water filters through the MDHHS partnership. Residents were also encouraged to stop by the Department of Public Services’ location at 415 Stockbridge.
“The water filter distribution goal has been a big success,” said James J. Baker, public services director and city engineer in the City of Kalamazoo Department of Public Services. “But it doesn’t end there. This is a major component in our effort to replace lead service lines all throughout Kalamazoo. We’re strongly committed to eliminating the risk of lead exposure to customers as quickly as possible.”
The Public Services project is the continuation of a proactive annual capital improvement program that has been in place for more than twenty years to replace lead service lines. Since 2018, the city of Kalamazoo has replaced more than 500 non-copper water services every year; more than 900 were replaced in 2021. Line replacement progress can be viewed here.
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