PARCHMENT, MI — Residents and business owners using the city of Parchment water system are adjusting to the switch to bottled water for drinking and cooking following elevated levels of PFAS contaminates found in the city system.
Those using Parchment’s municipal water supply were told late Thursday, July 26 to immediately stop drinking the water after high levels of PFAS were discovered in the municipal water source.
Water bottles handed out to Parchment residents after high level of PFAS found in drinking water Public health experts link exposure to PFAS chemicals with increased risk for cancer, liver damage and other serious ailments.
"I’m getting old and so it probably doesn’t make a lot of difference anyway to me," Wood said.
Wood said with many factories in and out of operation in the past half a century, he was not surprised to hear contamination in the drinking water was found.
"It looks like they have a lot of work yet to figure out what’s going on," he said.
At the time, Earl had no idea he would end up waiting in a line for bottled water years later.
Earl said, "I wonder how bad this is all over?"
Scooter D’s owner Dave Fooy said once they learned about the contamination, they immediately bought cases of bottled water to ensure the restaurant could maintain operation.
Cornerview co-owner Cafe Judy Eckert said she is worried about the cost of staying on bottled water for a long period of time.