‘We feel terrible’: Grand Rapids leaders apologize after thousands without drinking water

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – City leaders on Tuesday detailed the cause of the ongoing widespread boil water advisory and apologized for how it has left roughly 20,000 homes and businesses without drinkable water.

“I know I speak for this entire body that many of us have talked to residents and businesses owners and we feel terrible about the disruption, especially to our small businesses who weren’t able to open yesterday,” said Mayor Rosalynn Bliss, “but I also really appreciate the community stepping up and helping out one another and helping us get through this, and hopefully it will be resolved as quickly as possible.”

Bliss gave those remarks during the Grand Rapids City Commission’s Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, March 19.

It was the first public meeting since the water main break Sunday that put residents and businesses in downtown and northeast Grand Rapids, as well as a majority of Grand Rapids Township, under a boil water advisory out of precaution.

The advisory prompted residents to stock up on bottled water, Grand Rapids Public Schools to cancel classes and a number of businesses to close or offer reduced services.

A full map of the advisory area can be seen here. Best practices from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on what to do during a boil water advisory can be found at this link.

The city, in partnership with SpartanNash, distributed 2,600 free cases of water bottles to residents Monday evening. Another distribution event is being held from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Tuesday at 1635 Leonard St. NE in Grand Rapids.

Those needing assistance getting bottled water can call 2-1-1.

Meijer and nonprofit World Renew have agreed to donate additional bottled water for distribution if needed, city officials said. The city has donated 30 cases to homeless shelters Mel Trotter Ministries and Degage Ministries.

Even though water pressure was restored Sunday, the break was repaired the following day, and the water system has been flushed, the advisory won’t lift until sometime Wednesday at the earliest.

That delay is due to state regulations requiring 48 hours of testing showing no bacteria or other contaminants within the water supply of the impacted area. If a test is positive, the city will have to conduct another 48 hours of testing before the advisory can lift.

Testing began Monday and the first results were negative for bacteria or other contaminants -- a good sign.

City Manager Mark Washington told commissioners the final test results will be received and shared Wednesday. If that testing is negative as well, the advisory will be lifted that same day.

The primary concerns are E. coli and other coliform bacteria, for which the water is being tested.

When part of the water system becomes depressurized and disconnected, like what happened Sunday with the water main break, it creates the potential for bacteria to grow and for groundwater and other sources of non-treated water to enter the area’s water, Washington said.

City officials previously said the widespread boil water advisory is the largest the Grand Rapids Water System has experienced in at least 15 years.

The reason it was so widespread, Washington said, is that the water main break and resulting water system pressure drops caused automatic shut-offs in a much larger area than was required for the break, impacting several area pumping stations.

“When the system began to depressurize, there were automatic shut-offs that occurred in areas larger than the initial main break and that’s why we had such a larger, regional impact,” he said.

The water main that broke is in a somewhat remote area on the city’s northeast side near Carrier Creek. Washington said the break happened after the main “began losing connectivity due to water pressure.”

The Grand Rapids Water Department is conducting an internal review of the maintenance history of the water main that broke, and Washington has ordered City Engineer Tim Burkman to independently review system work related to the incident as well as how and why the additional automatic shut-offs occurred.

Once completed, Washington will share the findings of the review and any potential recommended actions to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

“While we take a lot of pride in being a regional producer of safe and healthy drinking water,” Washington said. “We know this outage has disrupted the lives of community members and do apologize for the impacts that this has had on them.”

The Grand Rapids Water System sources its water from Lake Michigan and supplies Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker and Ada, Cascade, Grand Rapids and Tallmadge townships.

Washington gave a preliminary report Tuesday outlining a timeline of the events surrounding the break.

Washington said the first signs of an issue Sunday were noticed around 12:30 p.m. He didn’t detail what those specific signs were, but it’s about one and a half hours earlier than what city officials previously said the earliest indication of an issue was.

After those first signs of an issue, city staff also noticed a pressure drop in the pumps at the Livingston Pump Station, which began to shut down around 1:20 p.m.

The station is located in Belknap Park, and its capacity was expanded in recent years to offset the decommissioning of the Coldbrook Pump Station, which was the city’s oldest.

Staff were unable to start up any of the pumps at the station remotely because of the pressure drop and the low pressure in that part of the system. This then decreased the water pressure at several other pump stations in the area.

Around 1:30 p.m., residents began calling the city reporting concerns, which city officials previously said were related to water pressure.

More crews were called to help solve the issue at the Livingston Pump Station and were able to get the pumps turned on around 2 p.m.

Around 2:30 p.m., staff located the main break.

Even though it wasn’t until 6 p.m. that the main break was isolated and contained, most people on the water system were able to have some usable water and pressure as early as 4:30 p.m., Washington said.

The first boil water notice was issued at 3:30 p.m. for a generalized area of impact.

The city then created a precise map of the area of impact and publicized it, along with a final boil water advisory area, at 6:45 p.m.

Both Washington and Bliss thanked city staff for their quick response Sunday and the long days they have worked since working to resolve the water main break and its impact.

Bliss highlighted the work of the city’s water department and public works department and others.

“I know their entire team has been working overtime to respond and get us back to 100% with our water system, so I want to say thank you to all of our city staff who stepped up and have been working around the clock over these last couple days, as well as our city leadership team and our emergency operating center which was opened,” she said. “Really appreciate everyone responding so quickly.”