HESPERIA — A water boil advisory for Village of Hesperia residents and businesses has been ongoing since July 21 when a water main break occurred.
The village is in the midst of a $23.7 million water improvement project, and an unmarked water main was accidentally hit on the corner of M 120 and Cook Street during work on the project, said Village Clerk Vicki Burrell.
“We are still on our water boil advisory,” stated Burrell Wednesday, July 30.
“We have had seven positive results on the testing, and we have two samples awaiting results. We have a team of engineers meeting today, and they will get a plan in place to start adding chlorine directly to our wells starting tentatively on Friday.”
Water quality has been an issue in Hesperia, and the massive water improvement project is aimed at fixing it. “The new water supply, distribution, meters, service lines and water treatment improvements will improve the drinking water quality and odor, and address health and safety concerns,” states a previous press release from the village.
The scope of the project includes:
- Replacing a well contaminated with PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) to provide safe drinking water;
- Replacing 17,000 feet of aging, undersized, leaky, asbestos 6-inch cement mains that have exceeded their design life to provide better flow and fire protection;
- Replacing 163 residential and 61 commercial outdated water meters with meters that provide new remote-read capabilities and installing radio-read
devices on 163 new touch meters recently updated; - Replacing service lines to alleviate concerns over lead and to meet EGLE requirement that communities replace a minimum of 5 percent lead service lines annually to comply with the new lead and copper rules by 2040;
- Construction of a new iron removal plant to alleviate elevated levels of iron causing odors in water produced from two wells;
- Repairing and re-coating the water storage tank, including re-coating the wet interior and exterior with a three-coat epoxy and replacing discharge screens and the roof vent.
“We’ve never treated our water here in the village, so our water is really hard,” Village President Mike Farber said previously. “There have been rust problems with it and it has a smell to it, too.”
The water boil advisory is for water that is being consumed. The water is safe to bathe in. Water should be boiled for one minute minimum.
“In order to release the water boil advisory, we have to have two consecutive negative bacteria results,” said Clerk Burrell. The boil water advisory impacts approximately 400 households and businesses, she said.
Village residents can pick up cases of bottled water at the Hesperia Village Hall.
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