2021 Water Quality Report

By Press release submission

May 9, 2022

Municipal tap water is the life source of every community.

Our dependable water supply contributes to public health, keeps citizens safe from waterborne illness, drives economic prosperity, and is vital for everyday life. The Owosso Water Filtration Plant treated over 622 million gallons of water to over 14,539 residents in the City of Owosso during 2021. This report covers the drinking water quality for City of Owosso Water Supply for the 2021 calendar year.

This information is a snapshot of the quality of the water that we provided to you in 2021. Included are details about where your water comes from, what it contains, and how it compares to United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and state standards. At Owosso’s water filtration plant - water is tested continuously. Operators also conduct quality assurance and quality control processes to ensure accuracy. Chemists in the water quality laboratory conduct hourly tests from the treatment process and weekly and monthly tests from water sample sites throughout the city. Staff work closely with Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to ensure water regulatory and safety guidelines are met. Owosso’s team of water quality experts go to great lengths to deliver great-tasting tap water. It’s a 24/7, 365-day-a-year responsibility that they take very seriously. Your water comes from five active groundwater wells, each over 80 feet deep. In 2018 EGLE performed an assessment of our source water to determine the susceptibility or the relative potential of contamination. The susceptibility rating is on a seven-tiered scale from “very-low” to “very-high” based on geologic sensitivity, well construction, water chemistry and contamination sources. The susceptibility of our well source is high to very high.

Water Treatment Plant and System Maintenance in 2021.

Maintenance at the water plant is a continuous exercise. There are many parts and pieces of equipment that make up the different processes. All of the equipment has an expected useful life which we try to prolong with preventive maintenance. Our Asset Management Plan and Capital Improvement Plan guides us on when to repair/replace more expensive items and how to budget for them. During 2021, as part of a State Drinking Water Revolving Fund (DWRF) loan project, the City completed replacement of an 80 ft. section of 16” pipe inside the Water Filtration Plant that had been a serious main break threat. Also, the City replaced the original filter backwash pump with new redundant pumps and backwash system capability.