KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The city of Kalamazoo announced Thursday that it will distribute free water filters to residents of the Edison neighborhood starting Friday morning.
City staff will visit households from 9 a.m. to noon to distribute the free filters and also provide information on water quality and lead safety.
Friday is one of seven water filter distribution drives the city will hold in the coming weeks. They will return to the neighborhood on Sept. 6, 13, 20, 27, and Oct. 4 and 11, with the goal of reaching 500 households each day, officials said.
“This distribution initiative is coordinated between two city projects: a lead service replacement project in the Edison and Eastwood neighborhoods and a lead paint remediation project that helps residents mitigate the hazards of lead paint still present in some of Kalamazoo’s older homes (in partnership with KNHS Home Ownership Services),” city officials said.
Although neither the spring nor the Kalamazoo water main contain lead, lead can still get into drinking water if it comes into contact with pipes, solder joints or other parts of a home’s water lines, officials said.
Depending on a household’s water usage, the NSF-certified water filters distributed by the city can remove lead for between 30 and 60 days, officials said.
Residents who do not live in the Edison neighborhood but would like a filter can request one here.
Free faucet or pitcher filters with an additional box of cartridges can also be picked up at the city facility on Stockbridge Avenue, 415 E. Stockbridge Ave.
More information about the city’s efforts to protect citizens from lead hazards and projects to replace lead-containing water service lines can be found online.
