Independence Township

Water Quality Snapshot: Independence Township

Independence Township is a local-owned community water system that delivers drinking water to 11,790 residents in Clarkston, Michigan (Oakland County) through 5,100 service connections. Its water is drawn from groundwater sources. EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System records 36 total violations for this system , of which 12 (33%) are health-based, meaning a contaminant exceeded an EPA Maximum Contaminant Level or a required treatment technique failed. A further 23 monitoring and reporting violations are on file. The most recent violation on record dates to 2020.

The most frequently cited contaminant at this system is Coliform (TCR), recorded in 12 violations (MCL, health-based). Under EPA's UCMR5 PFAS monitoring program, 8 PFAS compounds were detected in samples collected from this system, with a maximum reported concentration of 30 ppt (parts per trillion). PFAS are persistent synthetic chemicals linked to health effects at very low exposure levels.

Across Michigan, EPA tracks 10,959 public water systems serving 9,098,093 people, with 255,201 cumulative violations and 31,467 health-based violations on record. About 86% of systems in the state carry at least one violation, and state-wide the average per system is 23.3 violations. Statewide, 87 of 318 UCMR5-tested systems have reported PFAS detections (27.4%).

Independence Township's 36 violations sit above the Michigan average.

All figures above are sourced directly from EPA SDWIS and UCMR5 public data releases and are updated as EPA publishes new reporting cycles.