According to the report, MSU’s water quality surpasses all state standards. To reach this quality, officials must work to actively reduce contaminants in the water supply.
MSU’s water mainly comes from the Saginaw Aquifer, which also provides water to East Lansing and the surrounding cities.
“It’s really kind of a stable water source,” MSU’s Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Director of Utilities Bob Ellerhorst said.
According to the report, several contaminants pose a threat to drinking water, such as microbial and inorganic. This includes contamination coming from the surface, especially in areas with high industrial activity. Arsenic can also threaten safe drinking water.
“Arsenic is naturally occurring in local wells and private wells,” Lansing Board of Water and Light Water Quality Administrator Bill Maier said. “Water should be tested because arsenic can be a long-term health issue.”
MSU’s Infrastructure Planning and Facilities’ Wellhead Protection Program prevents future contamination from occurring in the water supply, Ellerhorst said.
In addition to the Wellhead Protection Program, MSU’s Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Water Systems Manager Mike Tracy said the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Quality make sure there are no water contaminants in drinking water.
“The challenge is to try to anticipate what the hazards may be and how to prevent them,” Ellerhorst said.
In comparison to previous years, Ellerhorst said the most recent water quality report is similar.
Since the surrounding cities use the same water source as MSU, the quality is comparable, Natural Resources and Water Quality MSU Extension Educator Beth Clawson said.
“It’s as important to know where your water comes from as where your food comes from,” she added. “The water you’re drinking now is as safe as bottled water, if not more, because it’s tested weekly.”
As a part of a water monitoring plan prescribed by the state of Michigan, MSU is in the process of testing the amounts of lead and copper present in the water supply.
Ellerhorst added, the Department of Environmental Quality requires MSU’s Infrastructure Planning and Facilities to take water samples for testing and said there are “samples going on weekly all over campus.”
“Trust your city water,” Clawson said. “It may taste funny, but it’s not the water, it’s the plumbing.”
