Detroit officials are reassuring residents about the safety of the city’s water system.   

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The statement comes after the city sent federally mandated letters to thousands of residents about the materials used for water service lines.  Many Detroiters were concerned that the letters served as some sort of warning.

Detroit Water and Sewerage Department Director Gary Brown held a news conference on Tuesday to let residents know there’s no reason to worry. 

“Our water is safe and some of the best water in the world. We’re a leader in the United States in delivering quality water,” he said. “We’re below the actionable level for lead at 12 parts per billion in the most recent testing results.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires municipalities with lead service lines to send out the letters. Brown says the city uses a special coating to prevent old service lines from leeching lead into the water. He says concerned residents can run water for three to five minutes in the morning to flush standing water out of the system. 

Detroit has 10 years to replace all of its lead service lines. Brown says the city has spent $100 million this year in its efforts to replace those lines. 

Other headlines for Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024:

• The city of Detroit broke ground Tuesday on a project that will turn a historic school into affordable housing.
• AAA Michigan says you should pack your patience if you’re planning to take a trip over Thanksgiving, as 2.6 million Michiganders will be traveling over the holiday weekend.
• Gas prices continue to trend lower in metro Detroit, according to AAA Michigan, with the average price of a gallon of self-serve unleaded now at $3.10 — down five cents from a week ago.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

The Michigan Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision next year on a case that will help determine the rules on environmental cleanup of a class of “forever chemicals” in drinking water.

The court heard arguments Wednesday that are part of the state’s long-running battle with the manufacturer 3M over cleaning up PFAS contamination.

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PFAS are a family of chemicals that have become ubiquitous in our environment because of their widespread use in things like clothing, cookware, food packaging, building materials, firefighting foam and more. These chemicals  have been linked to cancer, they don’t break down, and they have contaminated our food, lakes, rivers and groundwater.

The state has passed regulations in recent years to address that. But the case heard by the Michigan Supreme Court this week could roll back those regulations if the court rules in favor of 3M. The company argues that the state did not follow the rules for adopting drinking water regulations. Lower courts ruled against the state. 

William Dichtell is a chemist at Northwestern University who researches how to break down PFAS in energy efficient ways. He joined The Metro on Thursday to talk about his research and how microbes can help break down the forever chemicals.

Dichtell says he gets asked a lot how to avoid PFAS, but due to their prevalence in the environment, there is no way to prevent human exposure.

“We’re using PFAs in so many different contexts, and we have so much historical contamination,” he said. “This has to be solved at the societal level. This isn’t a matter of just changing the brand of toothpaste that you use or drinking a different kind of bottled water or something like that.”

MPRN reporter Rick Pluta contributed to this report. Use the media player above to listen to the full conversation with William Dichtell.

More headlines from The Metro on Nov. 14, 2024:

• Beginning in the 1950s, Mad magazine has been poking fun at  important figures in our politics, our movies, and our broader culture. It’s been done with a purpose to demonstrate that they are flawed like the rest of us. A new documentary about Mad by Pleasant Ridge resident Alan Bernstein makes its local debut at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Redford Theatre. Bernstein joined the show ahead of the screening to discuss his new film.
• The Detroit City Council have passed a new animal ordinance going into effect in January that outlines the type of livestock allowed in the city.  Animal owners will need to apply for a license and pay an annual fee to have chickens, ducks and bees in their backyard. Roosters are not allowed and wild animals remain prohibited. Jerry Hebron Jerry, executive director of the North End Christian Community Development Corporation, joined the show to talk about the impact the new ordinance will have on urban farming. 
• “Monopoly: Detroit edition” features iconic locations like the Ambassador Bridge, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Princess boat and the Renaissance Center. Game maker Top Trumps USA has been creating special city editions of the classic board game for a decade. Tim Barney, of Top Trumps, joined The Metro to talk about the Detroit edition and why they chose to feature the Motor City.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is still on schedule to replace thousands of lead service lines by the end of the year.

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DWSD is using an artificial intelligence learning tool from BlueConduit that predicts the location of lead service lines in the city.

The department was in Pingree Park this week — a neighborhood the tool predicts has at least 70 lead lines.

Director Gary Brown says the software helps them choose which areas they should hit first to make the most impact.

“This is a neighborhood with a lot of kids. It’s a a disadvantaged community,” Brown said. “Economically, it has been ignored for a long time. So this is why we’re here and not in Rosedale Park or Palmer Woods or Sherwood Forest.”

The department is on track to replace 10,000 lines by the end of 2024.

Other headlines for Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024:

• Dearborn’s Public Health Department is working with the University of Michigan’s Environmental Law and Sustainability Clinic to review the city’s environmental policies.
• Detroit Homeowners have until Nov. 1 to apply for property tax assistance to avoid risk of foreclosure. The 2024 HOPE application deadline was moved from early December to November to give the city of Detroit Property Assessment Board time to reach applicants with incomplete submissions so they can ensure they have a fair chance at receiving the benefit. The last Healthy Home Resource Fair where residents can receive on-site HOPE application assistance is 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at the Perfecting Church on Detroit’s east side.
• Daybreaker and Civic Responsibility Project are hosting a dance party in New Center Park this Saturday to “get out the vote” this election season. Called the “Purple Tour,” the event will feature special guests Wanda Sykes, NFL star Tyrann Mathieu, Anthony Ramos, Dancing with the Stars Julianna Hough and more.  

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Across the U.S., drinking water and wastewater utilities are losing experienced workers at an escalating rate. It’s part of the “silver tsunami” of baby boomer retirements.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that “silver tsunami” is just beginning to sweep across the nation.

“We’re seeing between 30 and 50% of our water workforce being eligible to retire within the next 5 to 10 years,” said Bruno Pigott, the EPA’s acting assistant administrator of water.

He was quoting from a report released six years ago by the Brookings Institution. While the data are hard to confirm, it appears the country is heading toward that projection.

An analysis by Michigan Public finds automation will replace some workers, but retirements will exceed that and lead to shortages.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a drop in water operator jobs nationwide over the next decade as automated systems take over more tasks. Despite that, an estimated 10,000 positions will need to be filled each year to make up for people who leave these jobs to go to another industry, return to school or retire.

Finding workers interested in working in drinking water, stormwater, or wastewater systems is not always easy. Many public workers are fairly high profile. We often see police, firefighters, and teachers at work.

“But there’s a whole group, and that’s our water and wastewater professionals, that are less well known because as long as we are able to flush our toilet, as long as we’re able to ensure that when we turn on the tap, the water flows freely and is high quality, we don’t think about it,” Pigott said.

But failure to replace water workers is not like the workforce shortages we see in other areas.

“It’s not something that you can just shut off because you have a workforce shortage,” said Barb Martin, director of engineering and technical services at the American Water Works Association. Government and private water utilities are hoping to entice people to train for those jobs.

“The workforce of now, and really looking at the workforce of the future, needs to be well-skilled in digital technologies because that does seem to be the direction that the industry is heading,” Martin said, although not every position will need high tech skills.

Many water workers are on the streets, repairing water lines. In systems that still have the position, some workers read meters. Others could be billing customers or ordering chemicals to clean water or disinfect it.

In a 2024 report by the American Water Works Association, worker shortages is one of the top 10 concerns among leaders in the industry. The top concern is protecting water sources.

The water works association trains workers who have some experience already, including high-level courses for the next generation of water utility leaders. They not only have to manage the utility, but they also have to solve community problems and manage the cultural shifts that encourage community building, according to a brochure on the association’s Transformative Water Leadership Academy.

The Michigan Section of the association also regularly holds training sessions for current waterworks employees around the state to help them maintain certification or advance their skills for that next promotion.

But association members also know entry level positions need to be filled.

The Brookings report said 53% of water workers have a high school diploma or less. So they can get their foot in the door. But they’ll need on-the-job training, learning a variety of tools and technology.

There are training programs for people with no experience in waterworks.

Grand Rapids Community College won a $1 million grant from the EPA to work with the city of Grand Rapids to attract and train people. Often, they’re recruiting students from disadvantaged communities who typically are unaware of job opportunities in municipal waterworks.

The sound of hammers and drills echoed in a GRCC construction lab recently. Student carpenters and electricians were practicing on mock housing sections. But there is no waterworks lab.

“Our people are actually on site on our internship with the city of Grand Rapids and the drinking water or the wastewater treatment facilities,” said John VanElst, interim dean of the college’s School of Workforce Training.

He said a unique part of the Water Career Program is a year-long internship with a mentor on the job. Students are paired with a city employee at one of the Grand Rapids municipal plants.

VanElst said it only made sense to work with the city.

“We decided three years ago, let’s look at a grant with the EPA that just came out and write for this together with the City of Grand Rapids to see if we can help them with this retirement that they’re going to be facing and are facing right now.”

There are other elements. A student study course is provided by Bay College in Escanaba. Those online courses are needed to pass state certification tests.

VanElst said the combination of online work and on-the-job work gives students a real-world look at different kinds of jobs.

“It’s nice because they get a good idea of what they want to do right and maybe what they don’t want to do. And the best part, too, is that they have mentors along the way.”

He added they hope to soon help surrounding cities such as Wyoming, Holland, Muskegon, and others build up their water workforces.

One thing that should be noted about these jobs in the water workforce is that the jobs pay better than average. That’s especially true among the positions lower on the pay scale, according to the Brookings Institution report.