SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. — In 2014 the Flint Water Crisis put the danger of lead-tainted water lines in the spotlight.
Ten years later, cities and townships across Michigan and the country are doing what they can to address the aging infrastructure.
FOX 17 spoke with the South Haven Area Water and Sewer Authority on Friday about a letter they sent out to around 2,700 residents in South Haven and South Haven Township.
Around 2,100 people got letters for having lead or galvanized lines. Around 500 or so got letters describing those lines as unknown.
The city explains the reason for this.
“We’re required to verify at four different points along the water service line. We know most of it. But if there’s one or more points we don’t know, we have to classify it as unknown," Quentin Clark, water, sewer, street superintendent for South Haven, said.
Anyone who has an "unknown" line can have the water authority come out and check the service lines.
“The South Haven Area Water and Sewer Authority just received and closed on about $20 million in funding, half of it low-interest loans and the other half forgivable loans, to replace the 2,100 estimated service lines, and verify any that are unknown,” Clark said.
One of the people who got letters that said "unknown" says she was initially concerned but, after learning more, feels reassured.
“I don’t think there’s cause to panic,” South Haven Township resident Amber Hodge said.
The Water Authority is required to send the letters out by the state and EPA, the superintendent Quentin Clark explained to FOX 17.
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