The St. Joseph River, which recently became the unintended recipient of 50,000 gallons of untreated wastewater due to complications at the Three Rivers Wastewater Treatment Plant, is now considered safe for contact following a no-contact health advisory. The overflow incident occurred Monday afternoon amid an upgrade to the plant when contractors were switching pumps, leading to wastewater briefly entering the river. According to WOODTV, officials lifted the advisory after test results returned Thursday showing normal levels of fecal coliform in the river.
The issue was quickly addressed by the city, which established a bypass within two hours after recognizing the malfunction at 3:30 p.m. that Monday. The no-contact order, initially put in place as a precautionary measure, aimed to prevent community members from inadvertently coming into contact with potentially high levels of harmful bacteria. As per WSBT, Taylor Davis, the Three Rivers Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent stated, "As soon as it wasn't pumping, We knew it wasn't. We set up finding the issues finding a bypass solution. It started overflowing at the lowest our collection system. But it was stopped within two hours."
The volume of the wastewater spill was equivalent to the capacity of three average backyard swimming pools. Despite the swift response, there was understandable concern among local residents about the potential impacts on water safety and aquatic life. Yet, the Three Rivers Wastewater Treatment Plant reassured that drinking water supplies were unaffected by the spill. Further comfort came when WWMT reported that E. coli levels have remained normal since the incident.
