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Three Oaks council to stop temporary water chlorination; staff to study permanent option if contamination recurs
Summary
After completing repairs to a watermain, village staff said temporary chlorination will end March 17, 2025, but warned that a positive bacteria test next month could require another boil order and prompt consideration of permanent chlorination and a pilot study.
Village President Graziano and staff told residents at the March 12 council meeting that maintenance on a damaged watermain in the southwest corner of Three Oaks has been completed and the line was returned to service on Feb. 28.
Joe Fender said crews cleared dirt and mud from the line, flushed surrounding piping and conducted two rounds of testing before placing the main back into service. "We have addressed that issue," Fender said, summarizing the repairs and testing.
Village Manager Faulkner told the council that the Water Department requested the council allow temporary chlorination to end after the meeting, with staff continuing routine monthly bacteriological sampling. He cautioned that a positive sample in next month’s testing would force the village to resume boil orders and would make permanent chlorination — including purchasing equipment, pumps and related infrastructure — a more likely option. Faulkner added that permanent chlorination would also require permitting and a pilot study if phosphates or corrosion-control chemicals were used.
Consultant Andrew Rudd said chlorination is common in Michigan but carries trade-offs, including the need to evaluate corrosion protection because chlorination can create more corrosive conditions in the distribution system. He told the council that staff and consultants would prepare cost estimates and a pilot-study plan: "We would do [corrosion protection] through a Pilot Study before we actually implement a permanent chlorination system."
President Graziano said the village will provide transparent public notices about the change and next steps on social media, utility bills and its alert system, and Faulkner said he will draft an alert. Faulkner specified that temporary chlorination is scheduled to stop on Monday, March 17, 2025.
The council did not take a formal vote to require permanent chlorination; members instead accepted staff recommendations to end the temporary chlorination and to return with cost estimates and options if testing indicates additional action is required. The village also reported it has previously identified lead in parts of its system; Faulkner said chlorination can mobilize lead, and that adding orthophosphate corrosion-control chemicals would require state permitting and a study.
