ESCANABA — Escanaba residents won’t be receiving copies of the city’s annual water quality report in their mailboxes this year — unless they specifically request a copy. However, the report itself suggests the city’s water is in good shape despite the water supply being highly susceptible to contamination.

According to the city, the susceptibility of a water supply is ranked on a seven-tier scale that starts at “very low” susceptibility to “very high,” with Escanaba’s water supply being ranked as “high” susceptibility. The reason for the ranking is that the city’s water comes directly from Little Bay de Noc prior to treatment by the city, and there are 19 permitted National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems within the water supply area that can release pollutants into the lake.

The report itself isn’t specific as to what facilities have NPDES permits, but the city itself holds at least one of them, which is used to release fully-treated wastewater into the lake through an outfall about two miles from the wastewater treatment plant and 30 feet below the surface of the lake.

The 2024 Water Quality Report points to municipal-owned storm water discharges as being the dominant contamination source in the water supply, but none of the contaminants being monitored by the city were in violation of state or federal maximums or at levels that legally required remedial action.

Due to the large amount of street work in the city this summer — the result of state-mandated lead service line replacements — residents may wonder how much lead is actually in the city’s water. The amount of lead in water varies from home to home, caused by things like old plumbing or whether or not a home is downstream of a yet-to-be-replaced lead service line or galvanized pipe. However, 90% of the samples collected by the city between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2024 contained one part per billion (ppb) or less. The samples with the highest amount of lead contained 2 ppb.

For 2024, Michigan’s Lead and Copper Rule — touted by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy as the strictest in the nation — set a maximum level of 15 ppb as the “action level,” when a municipality would need to take steps to actively reduce the amount of detectible lead in the water supply. Starting Jan. 1, 2025, the action level was dropped further to 12 ppb, which is still significantly higher than what is detectable in Escanaba.

For copper, the state action level is 1.3 parts per million (ppm). In Escanaba, 90% of samples collected contained 0.1 ppm or less in 2024. The samples with the highest copper contamination had 0.2 ppm.

The report also includes data about a number of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as “PFAS” or “forever chemicals” due to their inability to break down in the bodies of animals. Of the seven PFAS being monitored, the city was only able to detect two: perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), a chemical found in firefighting foam, discharge from electroplating facilities, and discharge and waste from industrial facilities; and perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA), a chemical found in the discharge and waste from industrial facilities and in stain-resistant treatments.

Both chemicals were found at low levels. PFOS, which has a maximum contaminant level — the highest level of contaminant that is allowed in drinking water — of 16 parts per trillion (ppt) was found at only 2 ppt in Escanaba’s water. PFOA has a maximum contaminant level of 8 ppt and was detected at a level of 3 ppt.

A full copy of the water quality report can be found online at www.escanaba.org/water/page/anual-drinking-quality-reports. Paper copies are available at the city hall utility window, the Escanaba Public Library, Escanaba Civic Center, Delta Area Chamber of Commerce building, and Wells Township Hall. Copies will also be mailed to those that request them by calling the water plant at 906-786-3291.