Whether you’ve seen posts about it on the Three Rivers Area Information Facebook page or experienced it yourself, you’re most likely aware the City of Three Rivers’ water has been less than aesthetically pleasing as of late. Many citizens say they have brown water coming out of their taps, with some reporting seeing “chunks” when filling up their water glasses, all the while lamenting over the surge in water bill prices across the city due to what is expected to be a decades long, state mandated lead line replacement project. 

But why is this happening? Is the water safe to drink? Downtown resident Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma was asking those questions and more this week when her tap water dramatically changed in color. 

“We were concerned when our tap water turned brown on Wednesday morning, even though we have a filter and softener,” Vander Giessen-Reitsma said. “The unit next door to us was the same way. I contacted (City Manager) Joe Bippus right away, and he had someone from DPS call me. I was very thankful for their prompt response, but it was still a bit of a mystery as to why our water was so discolored. The hydrant flushing that day wasn’t happening near our home.” 

Vander Giessen-Reitsma said she hopes the city can “work out a long-term solution” to this problem.

“We have a bottle-fed infant, so we’re especially attentive to clean water and we have a secondary filter for the water he drinks. It’s got to be a huge task to figure out what’s wrong with our aging water system and address it, but I hope the city can work out a long-term solution so that we know the water is safe for all of our kids,” she said. “The health department assures me that the city is required to test our city water regularly, but it’s hard to feel confident in water the color of urine coming out of our taps!”

Watershed Voice reached out to Three Rivers Public Services Director Amy Roth to ask why the city’s water is sometimes brown, and why the quality of said water fluctuates.

“Water from the ground in Michigan contains natural minerals. Minerals (including the iron in our water) are actually good for our health, but not always aesthetically pleasing, especially when combined with chlorine, which is what we use to disinfect our drinking water,” Roth said. “When iron is mixed with chlorine it creates small solid particles that can range in color from yellow to brown, thus making our water have a discoloration and contain particles.” 

Roth said the city adds polyphosphate to “try to protect our mains and encapsulate the iron particles” before the chlorine can react with the iron but it doesn’t always pan out the way they’d like.

“This is essentially a chemistry process that is sometimes in perfect balance and sometimes not perfect,” she said. “This is not an operational error, but is actually due to the minor changes in the water we pump. The important thing to remember is that even when our water is discolored, it is still safe to drink.”

Roth added that the City of Three Rivers is working with an engineering firm to address the issue.

“Aside from daily operational modifications, routine hydrant and main flushing, and working with our residents when they let us know they have discoloration, we are working with an engineering firm to review our water to confirm that the current treatment methods for our minerals are the best for the water we are pumping,” Roth said.

Watershed Voice asked if anything could be modified or upgraded within the city’s infrastructure to improve the city’s water, to which Roth said, “The work we are doing with the engineering firm will allow us to make sure we are optimizing our operations to provide the highest quality of water for our citizens.”

Roth encouraged Three Rivers residents to call DPS at (269) 273-1845 when they experience issues with their drinking water, as it will help the city determine what the cause could be.

Alek Haak-Frost is executive editor of Watershed Voice.