Tag: drinking water week

National Drinking Water Week 2026

Published on May 4th, 2026 by - Blog Posts

If any state has a reason to be on guard for drinking water contamination, it’s Michigan. Ten years ago, headlines around the world cast attention to the lead contamination of Flint’s drinking water.

Flint residents were advised not to drink the municipal tap water unless it had been filtered through an approved filter certified to remove lead. The result of inadequate corrosion control of water delivery pipes, the crisis ultimately exposed over 100,000 people to potentially unsafe drinking water.

Although the crisis generated actions to clean up the Flint supply, it’s timely during this Drinking Water Week to recognize both public water systems and private wells are strained.

Governments continue to underinvest in both the construction and upgrade of public water supplies, which serve 5.5 million people in Michigan. A 2023 report card (PDF) created by the American Society of Civil Engineers observed, “Most of the infrastructure within the State of Michigan’s community water supply systems (CWS) is over 50 years old and a significant portion is approaching 100 years of service life. The state has a $860 million to $1.1 billion annual gap in water infrastructure needs compiled from decades of deferred maintenance and lack of knowledge on asset conditions.”

Also of concern is the lack of funding in the state program that monitors and protects drinking water supplies. A consultant to a state task force estimated a need of more than $40 million annually for the staff needed to carry out the program. That state spends less than $20 million.

The state has been fortunate to avoid widespread contamination of public drinking water, although much more progress needs to be made to remove 580,000 lead and galvanized service lines. As of 2024, only about 11% had been replaced.

In 2024, the state recorded 1,375 violations of Safe Drinking Water Act requirements by 332 systems. Many of the violations were related to monitoring requirements. Contaminants that affected a small percentage of violations included two PFAS compounds, naturally occurring arsenic, and total coliform.

The state’s 1.2 million private drinking water wells, which serve 2.6 million people, are also at risk. Unlike public water supplies, private wells are not routinely monitored. That responsibility belongs to homeowners – a point that the state made on Private Residential Well Awareness Day.

Threats to private well water are potentially serious. Nitrates, a form of pollution caused by excessive application of nitrogen fertilizers and animal waste on agricultural fields, have contaminated thousands of wells. Nitrates are associated with “blue baby syndrome” in infants and some forms of cancer in adults.

What does Drinking Water Week mean?

For private well owners, it should mean self-education and action to protect themselves and their loved ones.

And it should mean citizen vigilance and pressure on lawmakers to adequately fund a program that is relevant to every Michigander, every day.

Drinking Water Week 2024

Published on May 6th, 2024 by - Blog Posts

We are so used to turning on the tap and receiving safe drinking water that we often forget how vulnerable that water can be to contamination.

During Drinking Water Week, recognized May 5-11 by the State of Michigan and nationally, filling knowledge gaps is a critical priority. Knowing the source of your drinking water is crucial, and so is knowing about threats to its safety and legal and environmental defenses to prevent its contamination. Michigan also proclaims Thursday, May 9, as Private Residential Well Awareness Day to bring attention to the 2.6 million Michiganders who depend on private wells for their drinking water.

Michiganders have reason to grasp the threat to our drinking water. The lead contamination crises in Flint and Benton Harbor provide sobering lessons about one threat to drinking water. The federal government has now committed $15 billion nationwide for the replacement of lead pipes through which drinking water flows.

Another threat to public drinking water is the family of chemicals known as PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals”, used in many consumer products. These compounds pose potentially major human health effects.

The good news is that both the State of Michigan and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have set health-based limits for some PFAS in public drinking water supplies.

The threat from other contaminants is greatest to those who rely on the more than 1.25 million private wells in Michigan, which go largely untested. Many people don’t realize that 45% of Michigan’s population gets drinking water from underground sources.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that private well users have their water tested annually for contaminants. The CDC also recommends keeping household hazardous materials such as paint, fertilizer, pesticides, and motor oil far away from wells.

For Michigan residents who receive drinking water from public water supplies, safety and contamination are regulated. Federal and state Safe Drinking Water laws require regular testing and treatment of public water. Customers of public water supplies are entitled to receive annual consumer confidence reports that detail levels of key contaminants and any violations of drinking water standards.

In 2022, according to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), there were 1,012 violations of Safe Drinking Act requirements at 328 community supplies. Most of these violations related to treatment or reporting requirements, not violations of health-based drinking water standards.

Many Michiganders drink bottled water—some as a short-term replacement for contaminated public or private water supplies, but far more do so for the perceived convenience and hydration. Many bottled water customers, however, do not realize that much bottled water comes from public supplies—they are drinking bottled tap water from systems paid for by taxpayers and marked up for significant profit by the private sector. Aquafina and Dasani labels in Michigan are drawn from the public supply for Southeast Michigan. And most of the remainder of bottled water packaged in Michigan—such as BlueTriton’s (formerly Nestle’s)—comes from groundwater that is tributary to Michigan’s streams and lakes. In effect, it and consequent private profits come from sources that belong to the people of Michigan under the public trust doctrine.

We should not take our drinking water for granted. Becoming aware of sources and threats is vital to our individual, family, and public health. Learn more about FLOW’s efforts to protect groundwater here on our website.

Know the Source of Your Water—During Drinking Water Week, and Every Week

Published on May 1st, 2022 by - Blog Posts

Turning on the tap and receiving drinking water is so commonplace that we often forget how vulnerable that water can be to contamination.

But Michiganders have reason to grasp the threat. The lead contamination crises in Flint and Benton Harbor have been news not only in the state, but across the country. Congress has approved $15 billion in federal funding to attack the problem of lead pipes nationally. The Michigan Legislature has appropriated almost $139 million to replace lead lines.

Lead pipes are just one of many threats to Michigan’s drinking water. The threat from other contaminants is greatest not to users of public drinking water systems, whose sources are predominantly surface water drawn from rivers and the Great Lakes and are regularly monitored, but to those who rely on the more than 1.25 million private wells in Michigan, which go largely untested. Many people don’t realize that 45% of Michigan’s population drinks water from underground sources. 

During Drinking Water Week, recognized May 1-7 by the State of Michigan and nationally, filling knowledge gaps is a critical priority. Knowing the source of your drinking water is crucial, and so is knowing about threats to its safety and legal and environmental defenses to prevent its contamination.

Unlike public water supplies, drinking water from private wells is not government-tested for pollutants. Instead, the burden is generally on homeowners—and so is the testing cost, which can be steep. A test for toxic PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” with potentially major human health effects, costs up to $300. The Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) has posted information and recommendations related to exposure to PFAS in drinking water.

Knowing the source of your drinking water is crucial, and so is knowing about threats to its safety and legal and environmental defenses to prevent its contamination.

Click above to read our groundwater report, “Deep Threats to Our Sixth Great Lake.”

FLOW has documented some of the pollution that threatens groundwater in two reports, including Deep Threats to Our Sixth Great Lake. Toxic substances, nitrate, chloride, bacteria, and other contaminants are found in private wells across Michigan. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reports that elevated nitrate levels have been identified at 18 percent of private sites tested for nitrate, and half of these contain nitrates above public drinking water standards. Nitrate is among the contaminants that do not affect the taste and appearance of drinking water and thus could be consumed without people noticing in the absence of testing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that private well users have their water tested annually for contaminants. The CDC also recommends keeping household hazardous materials such as paint, fertilizer, pesticides, and motor oil far away from wells.

Many bottled water customers, however, do not realize that much bottled water comes from public supplies—they are drinking bottled tap water from systems paid for by taxpayers and marked up for significant profit by the private sector.

For Michigan residents who receive drinking water from public water supplies, safety and contamination are regulated. Federal and state Safe Drinking Water laws require regular testing and treatment of public water. Customers of public water supplies are entitled to receive annual consumer confidence reports that detail levels of key contaminants and any violations of drinking water standards.

In 2020, according to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), there were 922 Safe Drinking Water Act violations in 334 community supplies. Most of these violations related to treatment or reporting requirements, not violations of health-based drinking water standards.

Click on the image to learn about FLOW’s “Get Off the Bottle” campaign.

Many Michiganders drink bottled water—some as a short-term replacement for contaminated public or private water supplies, but far more do so for the perceived convenience and hydration. Many bottled water customers, however, do not realize that much bottled water comes from public supplies—they are drinking bottled tap water from systems paid for by taxpayers and marked up for significant profit by the private sector. Aquafina and Dasani labels in Michigan are drawn from the public supply for Southeast Michigan. And most of the remainder of bottled water packaged in Michigan—such as BlueTriton’s (formerly Nestle’s)—comes from groundwater that is tributary to Michigan’s streams and lakes. In effect, it and consequent private profits come from sources that belong to the people of Michigan under the public trust doctrine.

Drinking water is not to be taken for granted. Becoming aware of sources and threats is vital to our individual, family, and public health. Learn more about FLOW’s efforts to protect groundwater here on our website.