By Alexa Cheaney
The city of Grand Rapids has officially lifted the water boil advisory that has been in place since Sunday, March 17, affecting large parts of Grand Rapids, and Grand Rapids Township, including the Grand Rapids Community College Campus.
However, GRCC advised students to continue bringing their own water to campus until informed by the college that it is safe.
“Despite the advisory being lifted, please do not drink the water on campus,” an email sent to the campus community reads. “There are additional steps we need to take to ensure the water is safe to drink. Our Facilities team is already working diligently to replace filters and follow additional safety protocols.”
Since the advisory went into place, campus dining locations, such as Patatas and the Quiet Cafe, have had to work around new obstacles due to the lack of water resources.
Before the advisory was lifted, Avery Sedore, the owner of Subway and Patatas, said that business is not doing too bad.
“Well, you take things day by day, things are gonna happen. You just do the best you can,” Sedore said.
Sedore believes that he and his team were fortunate regarding the ice situation.
“I was here when we got the emergency call or alert, my ice bin was full so I just turned it off so that way I still had Friday and Saturday’s ice which was still clean.”
Even though Sedore had a supply of ice on hand, he had to shut down his fountain drinks but expressed they still had plenty of canned and bottled products.
The Quiet Cafe has gone through a slightly more difficult time trying to serve students.
“To make sure that we’re safely feeding the community we’re limiting some of our services but we have been able to open by doing certain precautions like boiling water so we can safely wash produce,” said Keaton Krupa, GRCC’s director of Dining Services.
While some of the cafe’s specialty drinks are unavailable, Krupa explained that they could still serve milk-based products such as milkshakes.
“For instance, some of our hot beverages are not being offered at this time, but are still able to make coffee by boiling it first,” said Krupa.
The City of Grand Rapids urges residents to take additional precautions as well before returning to usual water use.
“It is no longer necessary to use bottled water or to boil water before drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, or washing dishes and food preparation at your home or business,” stated an update provided by the city’s website. “The water in your area has been flushed and sampled in accordance with Federal and State rules and regulations.”
The following next steps are provided by the city via their website in order to ensure safe and sanitary water.
Personal Hygiene after a boil water advisory:
- Flush Plumbing, Pipes, & Faucets (interior and exterior)
- Unscrew and remove faucet screens/aerators and clean out any particles. Instructions available from Michigan.gov
- Run cold water through your faucets and appliances with direct water connections for at least 5 minutes.
- To clear hot water pipes and the water heater of untreated water, run hot water only at all faucets and flush until the water runs cool.
- Put the screens/aerators back on the faucets.
- Check Appliances/Devices
- Remove and replace all water filters, including water coolers, inline filters, and other appliances with direct water connections. The filter could be contaminated if you ran water through any filter during the boil water advisory.
- Always read and follow the owner’s manual for directions to flush and replace filters for all appliances that use water.
Water dispensers from refrigerators should be flushed by at least one gallon of water, refer to the owner’s manual. - Dump existing ice and flush the water feed lines, making and discarding three batches of ice cubes.
- After flushing hot water pipes and water heater, run an empty dishwasher one time on the hottest or sanitize cycle.
- Run water softener through a full regeneration cycle.
- Remove and replace filters in portable and furnace humidifiers.
If you have any questions, or need to report a water/sewer emergency, contact the city at (616)-456-3000.
Collegiate reporter Jamie Miller and Editor-in-Chief Blace Carpenter contributed to this story.
