By By KATHIE HEMPEL / Niles Daily Star
NILES-Consumers beware. This is the message coming from the City of Niles Utilities Department.
"If anything goes wrong with our water, I'll be the first to know," said Johnny Hall, water supervisor for the City.
The utilities department composed a letter to warn citizens against "unethical salespeople." Several residents had called the city in response to a bottle left at their homes requesting water samples, he said.
Homeowners were asked to put tap water into the bottle for testing. The information said that the bottles would then be picked up and someone would contact the resident with results.
"It is not the City of Niles asking for this sample. If I want a water sample, I would contact you directly. I will tell you why we need it and do it myself. We provide good clean water," said Hall.
From time to time water treatment-devise salespeople come into town with door-to-door sales or through telephone solicitation. Some of these people are not very ethical in their sales pitch, often making false accusations directed at the City water supply, trying to sell their product, according to former water supervisor, David Morse.
"Some prefer bottled or filtered water. We have no problem with an individual's preference. We just want the consumer to be informed and not to purchase equipment because of fear tactics," said Hall.
The department asks consumers to exercise caution to avoid becoming easy prey of salespeople and consider the following practices:
Beware of phone and door-to-door solicitation.
Door-to-door sales requires a permit from the City, ask the salesperson if they have a permit.
Beware of an instant price discount.
Beware of home water tests that proclaim that they can show you pollutants in your water. As part of the sales pitch, they may conduct a test of your water that shows nothing more than acidity/alkalinity/hardness/chlorine. None of these indicate the presence of harmful contaminants.
Beware of accusations concerning contaminants in your drinking water.
Beware of governmental endorsements. The EPA, the State of Michigan and the City of Niles do not endorse any products nor do we hire anyone to conduct water samples in your home.
Know your rights as a consumer. You have three days with which to accept or reject a sale.
Establish a purchase price before signing a contract.
Do some comparative shopping.
Before purchasing a device, call your water department.
Morse said Niles city water meets or exceeds state and federal standards for water quality. Last June a report card or consumer confidence report was sent to eachhome, outlining what is in their water. Every gallon of water they pump and treat is scrutinized by the State of Michigan through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
"The City invested $5.5 million in the iron removal plant. Water is sampled 15 times a month. While we do have slightly hard water, however, there is no real reason why anyone in Niles needs an in-home water treatment or filtration system, except as a preference," Hall said.