PARCHMENT (WKZO AM/FM) — Almost exactly a month later, residents on Parchment’s municipal water supply system can now drink their water again.
The Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department released a statement around 10:30 a.m. Monday saying the drinking water advisory has been lifted for residents on municipal water.
County Health Director James Rutherford made it official at an afternoon news conference.
They say the city of Parchment’s water supply system meets the EPA Lifetime Health Advisory Level and is now deemed safe.
Rutherford was surrounded by a small crowd of state, federal and local health officials, politicians, and technicians who all wanted to be part of the announcement.
That Not only included Senator Margaret O’Brien and Congressman Fred Upton , but Governor Rick Snyder as well.
However, homeowners on private wells are being advised to continue using bottled water as crews work to install filters on kitchen faucets in the affected areas until they figure out a long term solution.
Customers on Parchments water supply were notified about the high levels of PFAS back on July 26th and have been using bottled water ever since.
Crews worked throughout the month flushing out the pipes and connecting Kalamazoo’s city water system to the affected homes in Parchment and Cooper Township which can now be labeled a success, after testiing and more testing to make sure there were no Unintended Consequences from connecting the two systems.
Monitoring may go on for decades now that they know there is a plume of contaminants. They are still waiting for test results to confirm the source, but they believe its the Crown Vantage Plant.
