Six days after a drinking water warning was issued in the Village of Empire, residents and visitors continued to cope with the hardship though most indicated they haven’t become too agitated – yet.

"When we found out about it, we went down to the store where they had jugs of water for sale, bought some, and brought them back to the cottage," said Bruce Wilgernen of Arlington, Va., who rented a cottage in Empire and is spending the week with family members. "It didn't really impact our weekend or time here. You just had to remember to use the bottled water when getting a drink or brushing your teeth."

The warning was issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Friday morning after regular tests done at the start of each month showed elevated E. coli bacteria levels in part of the village’s water system. The DEQ also issued a boil water advisory.

Leonard Shalda, head of the village’s Department of Public Works, said yesterday morning he took 10 water samples both Sunday and Monday nights, and all 20 sample came back clean. He faxed results to the DEQ’s Cadillac district office and was anxious to hear if the warning would be lifted.

The Rev. Barbara Gordon of Empire United Methodist Church said she was gone for part of the weekend and found the notice on her door when she came home Saturday evening.

“It was a little disconcerting, but like most people I went to Deering’s and bought some jugs of water. It hasn’t been that big a deal,” she said.

Shalda said he became aware of the problem early last week. The Storm Hill subdivision recently upgraded its water system so it could become part of the village system. Shalda said as part of a homeowners association agreement with the village, Storm Hill has a person take samples from the system each month and send results to the DEQ, just as the village does. The Storm Hill sampler noticed elevated amounts of chlorophyll and E. coli bacteria, though Shalda said samples he took in other areas of the village at the same time came back clean.

“Storm Hill is an end area in the system, which means water flows there and stops,” Shalda said. The Storm Hill water tester took three samples to make sure he had not made a mistake, and then contacted Shalda with his results.

“We did random samples in five areas around the village after that and three came back showing elevated levels,” he said. Those results were sent to the DEQ, which then issued the warning.

The problem turned out to be in 100,000-gallon reservoir tank located on a hill on the village’s south end. Shalda said the tank is divided, and each half has its own manhole cover that is cinched shut by means of a chain inside the tank. The seal between the cover and the tank is made up of a Styrofoam-like substance, similar to the spray-in type foam used to seal cracks in concrete walls.

Shalda said at some point during the last six months, a cricket managed to burrow its way into the seal and laid eggs. Earlier this year, the eggs hatched and the young crickets apparently ate the seal away and got into the water below.

“We found hundreds of those crickets in the tank,” Shalda said.

The good news for village residents, business owners and visitors is the tank is designed so half can be shut off from the rest of the system. Shalda said the half with the problem was drained, and a company will be in town next week to give it a full cleaning and scrubbing prior to being put back on the system.

Over the weekend Shalda and DPW assistant John Friend flushed the village’s system of pipes, wells and reservoirs with chlorine so the water could be used for cleaning purposes.

“Yeah, you could really smell the chlorine when you ran the water this weekend,” said Tim Barr, an Aylsworth Street resident. Barr, like most people in the village who were interviewed, used bottled water rather than boiling it for two minutes before drinking.

“It was just easier to use bottled water for drinking,” he said. The DEQ boiled water advisory recommended water be boiled for two minutes before use for any internal consumption, like drinking or cooking.