Water main fixed; boil advisory continues during testing

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Bottled water was handed out Monday evening and more is planned for Tuesday while a large swath of Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Township remained under a boil water advisory that stemmed from a water main break.

“Over the past 24 hours, it’s been pretty much of a whirlwind,” City Manager Mark Washington said. “This is pretty unprecedented. We have pretty reliable and good quality water in our city.”

Water was distributed at 1635 Leonard St. NE, between Ball and Plymouth avenues, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The city said each vehicle was able to get one case of bottled water from SpartanNash. The line for water stretched from the parking lot on Leonard Street all the way out to the East Beltline.

SpartanNash and Grand Rapids will hand out more packs of water bottles Tuesday while the boil water advisory continues. The distribution will be at the same location from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. while supplies last, the city said. Traffic patterns will be adjusted to accommodate the extra traffic.

“Although this is inconvenient and it causes disruption, it’s days like this that we’re really glad to have partners like SpartanNash to help us continue to serve our community,” Washington said.

Tony Sarsam, the CEO of the Byron Center-based food distributor and grocery chain, said the company was able to quickly round up 2,800 cases of water and mobilize volunteers to help with distribution.

“It’s actually part of who we are. We are a people-first company and we are a food solutions company,” Sarsam said. “Our team is always on the alert to make sure we can take care of people in the communities that we operate in.”

Grand Rapids boil water advisory to last for days, city says

The boil water advisory was issued Sunday afternoon after a water main break in the area of Leonard Street NE and Union Avenue near Carrier Creek caused a drop in system pressure. The cause of the break is unknown.

City leaders told News 8 late Monday afternoon that the break had been fixed. Still ongoing was testing to confirm the water is safe.

“We’re just hoping that people understand that this is a long process,” Grand Rapids City Commissioner Lisa Knight said. “And we want to make sure that people are safe, so they need to be boiling their water. If you’re going to use any water at home, please, please, please boil your water and be safe.”

Drops in pressure can allow bacteria to enter a water system. Boiling the water kills harmful bacteria. Water customers east of US-131 and north of Hall Street should boil their water for two minutes before drinking, making ice, brushing their teeth, washing dishes, cooking and cleaning. Flushing the toilet and showering are OK.

It’s unlikely that the boil water advisory will be lifted before Wednesday. The city must flush the system and test water. It will notify people after tests come back confirming the water is free of bacteria and the water is safe to drink.

Leaders pointed people to the city’s website and Facebook page for updates. Residents can also reach out to their commissioners.

“People have asked, ‘What can I do to help?’ And I think that’s great. That’s what exactly that Grand Rapids spirit is,” City Commissioner Milinda Ysasi said. “I think the best thing individuals can do right now is share our communications out broadly via their churches, their schools, their organizations.”

She also urged people to check in on their neighbors: Pick up water for them or help them boil water.

“If we think about three or four people that we can help, we’ll be able to get through this period of the testing,” Ysasi said.

Degage Ministries, a homeless shelter, is seeking donations of bottled water. They can be dropped off at the shelter at 139 Sheldon Ave. SE near Cherry Street.

BUSINESSES TRY TO MAKE IT WORK

The advisory is affecting not only homeowners and city workers, but also businesses who rely on that utility to at least stay open. For example: You can’t have coffee without water.

“We started early this morning — at 3:30, 4 in the morning — we brewed a bunch of coffee over (at our sister location on Hall Street), brought it over here in Cambro (dispensers), brought ice over here,” Wealthy Street Bakery owner and operating partner Andy Havemeier told News 8. “Then, we moved all of our production over there.”

Because of the extra work, Havemeier said the advisory forced the restaurant to limit its beverage menu. He said the shop is walking the line between staying safe and staying open.

“The margins are tight, so missed days are significant. Even a slow missed day is significant. It’s not like you’re sitting on a bunch of reserves typically, as far as the financials go… It hurts,” Havemeier explained. “(For a) small business, every dollar counts. But you also have to take public safety (as) the number one precedence. Upon going through everything that we could do, we decided that we could make this work in following all of the guidelines provided.”

Management with Lantern Coffee Bar & Lounge in downtown Grand Rapids echoed similar sentiments.

“We’re trying to be somewhat open today and figure out what the safest thing to do,” staff told News 8. “We will be doing our best to contact the proper entities and lean on them for advice.”

Not all businesses are as lucky. Outdoor Coffee Company, which is also here on Wealthy Street, told its customers on its Facebook page that it was closed until further notice.

Celebration Cinema North, in the area of the East Beltline and Knapp Street, said it would be open Monday, but would have only bottled beverages for sale. Celebration spokesperson Emily Loeks said that the movie theater was working on sanitation options in bathrooms so customers could wash their hands.

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She added that moviegoers affected by Sunday closures were refunded for their tickets.

At the Grand Rapids Fire Department, crews boiled the water for their coffee Monday morning. At lunch, they used bottled water to make Philly cheesesteaks.

“Just another day. This is relatively minor for everything else we take care of,” GRFD Capt. Bill Smith said.

Jugs of water were delivered to affected fire stations to make sure there was enough on hand to feed the staff.

“Our chief wants to make sure our people are taken care of,” Smith said. “We do have a couple of guys out there right now delivering these to every station that’s impacted. We’ll go beyond that just in case.”

GRPS CLOSED TUESDAY

Grand Rapids Public Schools said it would be closed Tuesday due to the water situation. Students were not scheduled to be in class on Monday because of an in-service day.

GRPS closing school Tuesday amid boil water advisory

“This situation with the water has created quite the logistical mess for us here at GRPS. Not only for the 20-plus buildings that are impacted in the zone of the boil water advisory itself but also for all of our other schools that utilize services for some of those buildings,” district spokesman Leon Hendrix said. “Our food and nutrition service building is in the zone that’s required to boil water right now. We knew that would make serving lunch (Tuesday) to nearly 14,000 scholars very challenging.”

Hendrix also noted it was possible schools could close again on Wednesday if the situation is not resolved. After the city gives the all-clear, Hendrix said GRPS facilities teams would flush the pipes in the affected buildings to make sure the water is clean when students return.

The Kent Intermediate School District also closed several buildings Monday, but plans to reopen most Tuesday.

“The restroom facilities will be available to us tomorrow. The restroom facilities were not available to us this morning. We had no idea when they would be available. So that made it impossible to open,” Kent ISD Superintendent Ron Koehler said.

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