Recent Water Safety Alerts Hit Michigan

Recently, Michigan issued a boil water alert for Battle Creek and the surrounding area after a contractor for the energy company ITC Holdings accidentally damaged a pipe near a local pumping station.

More than 55,000 local water customers were affected

This isn’t the only recent call for Michigan residents to take care of their water. In January, bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease were found in the water supply at a Hastings hospital. Because the hospital is connected to the local municipal water supply, the local supply could have been affected.

Most Municipal Waters May Be Affected

Statistically, most municipal water supplies will be affected at one point or another. Between 2012 and 2014, there were almost 21,000 reported boil advisories in the United States.

After an industrial accent, natural disaster, or other malfunction in the water supply, it can become necessary for residents to purify their water. Usually, with a call for water sterilization, customers must boil their water and/or clean it by mixing in small amounts of unscented bleach.

While, of course, we can get around this cumbersome process by buying bottles of water, that’s expensive and creates a lot of plastic waste, which may or may not get recycled. Also, water boil advisories tend to create a run on bottled water sales, making needed quantities of water challenging to find.

With advancements in water purification technologies, however, it’s becoming easier to filter out biological contaminants. Ultraviolet technology has made it possible to safely use UVC sterilization technology to eliminate bio-contaminants like bacteria and mold from drinking water without harsh chemicals. Microlyscs, has designed a replacement cap called CrazyCap, which fits cola-style bottles to conveniently sterilize the contaminated water up to 99.9999%. It has a built in 10mW UVC LED powered by LG®. With CrazyCap, users can have a portable water sterilization system that is also ecologically friendly. CrazyCap can work with most reusable bottle that has a “Coca-Cola” styled cap (such as S’well or MIRA or Simple Modern reusable bottles). With CrazyCap water bottle, one can have safe, drinkable water ALL DAY EVERY DAY, without having to buy expensive bottled water or boil the water in case of emergency. CrazyCap provides that protection against unexpected water boil advisories.