Elevated manganese levels found in the city’s water system in Springfield and Battle Creek has led the city to issue a drinking water advisory.
Only infants under 1 year old should not drink the water from the water system at this time, city officials said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
All other ages are not affected by the advisory.
The high levels of manganese were initially found in a sample from the city of Springfield.
High doses of the element can affect the nervous system.
Testing found manganese in Battle Creek water at 0.98 parts per million, more than three times the health advisory level for children under 12 months old, which is 0.3 parts per million for short-term exposure, defined as one to 10 days.
Water in Springfield was found to have 0.68 parts per million.
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Contact Kalea Hall at (269) 966-0697 or khall@battlecreekenquirer.com.
Follow her on Twitter at @bykaleahall

Levels of manganese — a metallic element — have been detected at levels higher than federal acute health advisory recommendations in Battle Creek’s drinking water.
The levels were first found at a fire hydrant in Springfield, which buys water from Battle Creek.
More testing was done, and elevated levels also found at a hydrant in Battle Creek.
There are no elevated results from Bedford, Emmett, and Pennfield townships, however, the city is including customers in those areas as well.
The health advisory level for children under 12 months old is 0.3 ppm for short-term exposure – one to 10 days.
The health advisory level for children older than 12 months, and adults, is 1.0 ppm for short-term exposure.
The city also tested the water where it comes out of the drinking water treatment plant – Verona Pumping Station – and did not find manganese.
At the levels found in the above samples, the body of adults and children older than 12 months, can remove excess manganese.
For more information about manganese and your health, please contact the Calhoun County Public Health Department hotline at 269-969-6852.
The city also has set up a hotline, 269-966-3311, which will provide the information here, and connect callers with Department of Public Works staff, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Autoplay:Play Video0:00 0:00: 0%: 0%LIVE -0:00 KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind.
According to the Knightstown Water Department, the discoloration is coming from iron that is passing through malfunctioning filters.
Dana Davis says she’s too scared to drink or bathe in the water, which is a dirty yellow color.
"It’s scary.
I’m not going to drink it,” said Davis.
I have to have water to rinse my mouth out when I brush my teeth."
Sometimes I can go to my parents to bathe, but it’s not the most ideal situation,” said Davis.
It doesn’t look good as an owner of a business when someone goes to the bathroom and it looks like it’s never been cleaned.” In a statement issued Wednesday, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management says the water is safe to drink and bathe in but they are doing extra monitoring in Knightstown.
"Based on the samples IDEM is receiving from the Knightstown Water Department, the water is safe for drinking and bathing.
We appreciate our customer’s patience as we work to continue to provide safe water to the community."

The Whakatāne District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council gave Creswell New Zealand a green light to increase its water bottling capacity by 1,825 percent, a move that could create as many as 237 new jobs.
Creswell NZ, which is wholly owned by Chinese bottled water supplier Nongfu Spring Co, applied to buy freehold and leasehold interest in 6.2 hectares of land at Otakiri, near Whakatāne.
The two councils said that – based on qualified expert evidence – "the actual and potential adverse effects of the applications are either demonstrably minor or can be suitably avoided, remedied or mitigated by the imposition of consent conditions."
It now has consent to use 5,000 square meters of water a day or 58 litres a second versus the current 1,358 square meters a day or 15.7 litres a second.
The bottled water will be predominantly trucked to the Port of Tauranga with 184 truck movements to and from the site each day versus the current eight.
The councils said they received submissions from Māori groups but said they were not persuaded that the proposal to take water for water bottling purposes will have an adverse cultural effect of such significance that the applications should be declined.
The upgrade is expected to cost $42.5 million and will create 32 jobs in the first two years and 60 once the plant is fully operational.
According to the councils, there will be flow-on effects as employees spend their wages and as Creswell buys goods and services required to support the water bottling operation such as road haulage operators and other service providers and the potential establishment of an inland container terminal in Kawerau.
Those flow-one effects are likely to create an additional 85 jobs with "potentially up to 237 FTEs in total attributable to the expanded operation," the councils said, adding that Kawerau and Te Teko are "among the most deprived places in New Zealand in a socio-economic sense" and it is undeniable that the additional direct and indirect employment resulting from the proposal would be highly beneficial in that context.
Among other things, the conditions of consent state that final site development, building and landscape construction plans must be submitted to the Whakatāne District Council, to certify that the works are in general accordance with the information submitted with the application.

Davidson has said she "doesn’t like" the decision after the co-leader of the Young Greens Max Tweedie wrote on an internal Facebook page that that he was "extremely disappointed" in the decision.
Land Information Minister Eugenie Sage, one of three Green ministers, announced the decision on Tuesday which allows in principle a Chinese water bottling giant to purchase land in order to expand their existing Otakiri Springs water bottling plant near Whakatane.
*Overseas investment for Otakiri Springs bottling giant approved in principle *Greens swing left with Marama Davidson in the co-pilot seat *Political parties sense opportunity on water issues Sage put out a blog post on the decision on the Green Party website.
"Basically the law is clear about what Ministers can and cannot take into account."
Davidson, who ran for co-leader on a platform of greater connection with members, acknowledged in a comment on that post "we don’t like this decision."
"There were strong legal implications for us opposing this.
Ngāti Awa people (who almost universally oppose this) are absolutely livid."
Sage told Stuff she understood why Green Party members would be upset.
Green MPs will push hard for changes to the law and for a charge on bottled water exports."
Tweedie declined to comment further.

SALEM, Ore. — Salem city officials announced Monday they would leave a water advisory in place for another two weeks, as they continue to test and refine new treatment methods.
City Manager Steve Powers told reporters the city is investing $2 million to remove toxins from the water.
City officials stressed that the carbon absorption system is a short-term solution to toxic algal blooms at Detroit Lake.
Powers says they will look into different long-term solutions, like an ozone filtration system, that would cost between $20 million and $30 million.
Joan Gonzalez, who also lives in Salem and was filling up a water jug, says she has spent at least $40 on bottled water.
Still, city officials chose to extend the water advisory for two weeks.
Several people included in that vulnerable population live at Lancaster Village Senior Center where staff say they have spent thousands on water since the crisis started.
“We have people who are on dialysis; we have people whose immune systems are very weak,” said Judy Belt, manager at the senior center.
They attributed it to drinking the water before we knew it was toxic.” Belt says they have spent an extra $5,000 to $6,000 on water and extra labor costs since the water crisis began.
Lancaster Village has bottles for their residents to drink and a large tank for bulk water use in the kitchen.

Reusable filter bottles are to replace single-use bottled water on private transfers and tours run by tailor-made operator Latin Routes.
The initiative is being introduced after awareness of the scale of sea pollution caused by single-use plastics was highlighted by David Attenborough’s BBC documentary, Blue Planet 2.
“This essentially means you can fill this bottle from most water sources and drink with peace of mind,” a spokesman said.
“The environmental benefits of this bottle are clear, and its design makes it perfect for everyday use during our clients’ travels around Latin America.” Every client travelling with Latin Routes will receive a reusable water bottle with filter included in the price of their holiday.
The bottle can then be used throughout their holiday and filled from most water sources.
Clients can then keep the bottle, meaning the environmental benefits can continue long after the holiday has finished.
He said: “We believe we all have a huge responsibility in the travel industry to encourage a change in our travellers’ consumption of single-use plastics.
Pollution of our oceans is something that affects almost all destinations, across the world.
“But we would now like to see the major tour operators and agents follow suit.
“Any necessary cost of purchasing this product, or something similar, is minimal and the environmental effects at scale, would be huge.

FLINT, MI — Detroit Tigers utilityman Niko Goodrum took his parent’s lesson to heart Monday when he handed out water to Flint residents at Bethel United Methodist Church.
"I thought that if I make the team, I wanted to do something to help them," Goodrum said on June 11.
Goodrum donated about 15 pallets of water and helped load them into vehicles that were wrapped around the streets surrounding the church at 1309 N. Ballenger Highway.
"This is how I grew up," he said.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said in April it was ending the free water program after testing showed Flint’s water quality was below federal action levels for lead for nearly two years.
State officials maintain, and testing has shown, Flint’s tap water meets all requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Lead and Copper Rule.
"I think it’s a great thing for people to come out and help," he said about Goodrum.
Goodrum using his day off to purchase water and give back to the people of Flint meant a lot to Jarrett.
"It’s a blessing to see the people come out and support us that way," Jarrett said.
"It’s good to see people give back when they get up there."

Help for Flint residents continues to pour in, even from the Detroit Tigers.
Tigers utilityman Niko Goodrum purchased 1,440 cases of bottled water that will be delivered to a Flint Community Help Center.
Goodrum will join volunteers Monday from the United Way of Genesee County and the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to distribute the bottled water to Flint residents.
“He has wanted to lend his support to the cause ever since signing with the Tigers over the offseason and reading about the Flint water crisis,” according to a press release from the team.
The water drive will take place at Bethel United Methodist Church on Ballenger Highway.
It begins at 10 a.m.
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Is the water we drink clean?
Which is safer, tap or bottled water?
The water most of us drink, including most of Cabell, parts of Wayne County and nearby Ohio, comes from the Ohio River through the West Virginia American Water plant, located at East 24th Street, Huntington.
The pipes are usually made of copper or plastic, but in very old homes, occasionally some are lead.
Although lead pipes have been outlawed since the 1950s, there are still some lead service lines (connecting water to homes), and most cities don’t know where these are.
In response to my email request on May 30, 2018, Dr. Halden replied, "City water is preferable to bottled water for reasons of sustainability and resource conservation undergoes constant monitoring and has an excellent safety track record Filters installed at the tap or under the kitchen counter can serve as an inexpensive safeguard from microbial contamination potentially introduced during travel of water in the pipes to the point of use Taxpayers already footed the bill for the water treatment infrastructure.
Personally, I use tap water, because I think it’s generally safer than bottled water, and because of the enormous amount of plastic waste that gets discarded into the environment from using bottled water.
Businesses and homes are required to ensure what they put into the sewer and eventually the river is safe, compliant with the Clean Water Act.
Huntington’s combined sewer system, carrying rain water, toilet water and industrial wastes through the same pipes, is designed to pass all the water through the treatment plant before entering the river.
When the system overflows, the excess goes through overflow pipes directly into the river or smaller streams.