Kalamazoo County Government issued the following announcement on Aug. 26.
The Village of Vicksburg is working in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services Department, and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to investigate potential elevated manganese levels in our municipal water system. There is currently no state or federal requirement to test for manganese in a municipal water system. This is only a precautionary advisory at this time.
The Village of Vicksburg is doing additional testing to determine if it meets all health advisory limits for manganese. One of the Village’s operational wells tested slightly above the recommended levels of manganese. The current manganese levels that have been independently tested show that the levels of manganese in a sample of homes/businesses connected to Vicksburg Municipal Water System are between 10-320 parts per billion (ppb).
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) short-term (1-10day) Health Advisory for infants less than 12 months old is 300 ppb and adults and children older than 12 months is 1,000 ppb. As the manganese levels in the drinking water approach/exceed the EPA short-term health advisory for Infants, this Precautionary Notice is being distributed for Village of Vicksburg residents serviced by our water system until additional testing can be completed. We anticipate that this testing will be completed and the results received by 5 p.m. September 1 st .
The Village of Vicksburg and our partner agencies are taking a precautionary approach to address this issue. The Village of Vicksburg will be providing bottled water for families with infants 12 months and under until further notice. If you are on the Village water system, have a child under the age of 12 months, and require bottled water call 269-649-1919 and delivery will be arranged. These lines are open Monday – Friday between 8 am – 5 pm.
Original source can be found here.
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