More than 1M gallons of partially treated wastewater goes into Kalamazoo River
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — On Thursday around 10:38 p.m., the City of Kalamazoo Department of Public Services found out about a disinfection feed system failure at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, city officials said on Friday.
Around 11:54 p.m., the disinfection feed system was restored to full functional performance, the city of Kalamazoo said.
During the time, around 1.506 million gallons of partially treated wastewater was discharged via the permitted outfall located at 1415 N. Harrison Street into the Kalamazoo River, city officials said.
Current regulations require all wastewater processes to be performed. If any one or more processes are not performed, the wastewater is considered partially treated and in violation of regulatory standards.
The City of Kalamazoo Department of Public Services in cooperation with the Kalamazoo County Health and Community Services Department are advising people to avoid contact with the Kalamazoo River from Paterson Street Bridge in Kalamazoo to the D Avenue Bridge in Cooper Township.
The advisory is to remain in effect until further investigation and sampling shows that the risk is minimized,
More information is to be shared after sampling results are in.
Sampling of the Kalamazoo River within the identified area has started and will continue,
Sampling takes 24-hours for analysis, the initial round of sampling collected on Friday will be available for first review by officials on Saturday,
Officials said they may need to review several sampling results before deciding to lift the Kalamazoo River Advisory.
Anyone with questions can call the Department of Public Services at 269-337-8768.
As required by law, Water Reclamation Plant personnel notified the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) at the Kalamazoo District Office and the Kalamazoo County Environmental Health and Community Services of the partially treated wastewater discharge.