System upgrades to better guard SE Michigan from drinking water contamination

Max Reinhart, The Detroit News on Aug 28, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Improvements to a drinking water monitoring network connecting Michigan communities from Lake Huron to Lake Erie will give plant operators about 15 times faster access to water quality readings, helping guard against issues like chemical spills and algae blooms, officials say.

According to the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, which helps coordinate the network, the system connects 13 drinking water plants that collectively provide water to about half the state's population, along a corridor beset by freight traffic and industry on both sides of the international border.

While a collaborative monitoring program has existed for about two decades, these latest improvements include upgraded equipment that allows plant operators to more quickly to stop water intake if there's a sudden change in conditions.

"With the original equipment, there was about a 15-minute delay on the technology when we take the reads," said Bari Wrubel, water utility superintendent for the city of Marysville, during a recent ceremony celebrating the improvements. "With the new setup that we're testing out here now, it is going to be once every minute. It substantially reduces your time."

Candice Miller, public works commissioner for Macomb County, helped get the initial system off the ground almost two decades ago, when she was a U.S. representative.

"We kept having all of these chemical spills," Miller said in a news release from SEMCOG. Miller said the source water moves "incredibly fast all the time — 24/7. Any kind of contamination that gets into that water supply very quickly goes running down the (Saint Clair) River ... impacting everybody who's using this for their fresh water drinking supply."

The $1.5 million improvement project was funded by an appropriation from the Legislature. The upgrades provide real-time communications that enable plant operators in each of the participating communities to immediately detect water quality issues like pH imbalance, and shut down operations until experts determine that the water is safe.

Issues could include incidents like oil spills or chemical discharge, as well as more natural phenomena like algae blooms, according to SEMCOG, a regional planning partnership serving a seven-county region, which has helped facilitate the program since its inception.

The five-year state investment pays for upgraded equipment, including a web-based communication system, as well as maintenance and calibration.

The system stretches along about 80 miles from Port Huron to Monroe. Program participants include Port Huron, Marysville, St. Clair, East China Township, Marine City, Algonac, Ira Township, New Baltimore, Mount Clemens, Grosse Pointe Farms, Wyandotte, Monroe and the Great Lakes Water Authority, which serves 127 communities and nearly 4 million customers.