Residential wells must be at least 50 feet away from all potential and known sources of contamination.
“We’re held to the standards of the Safe Water Drinking Act.” Rick Miller, Sturgis Director of Public Services, says “our goal is to provide customers with a high quality, safe and dependable supply of drinking water and we work diligently to do just that.
“The city is very fortunate in that they are located in an area of safe and plentiful water supply.
The Wellhead Protection Program was implemented in an effort to protect and preserve the city’s water supply for generations to come.” Miller said there are basically two types of water systems: surface water and ground water systems.
The city of Sturgis utilizes a groundwater system, and uses a total of four wells to pump water from the aquifer into the distribution system to supply water to customers.
The city has more than 4,000 water accounts.
Twenty-nine percent of the total piping in the city’s system was installed in 1950 or before; 54.9 percent was installed between 1951 and 1999; 16.1 percent was installed from 2000 through 2016.
Raw water from the wells is treated using chlorine, fluoride (hydrofluosilicic acid), and a polyphosphate polymer.
Chlorine is a disinfectant added to prevent bacterial growth in the water supply system.
The city is required to perform water testing on a weekly, monthly, bi-annual and annual basis.