Only 19 public water systems in OH are among the almost 1,400 nationwide that have exceeded the federal lead standard at least once since the beginning of 2013. Even more concerning, numerous highest reported lead levels were found at schools and day care centers.
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Aiken County drinking water has not exceeded the regulated lead action level in the past five years, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Water agencies must inform customers about the problem and take steps if more than 10 percent of sampled homes are above the EPA’s limit of 15 parts per billion. Instead, they are spending $15,000 more this year to increase the amount of phosphate they add to the water to inhibit corrosion and, they hope, reduce leaching of the lead pipes.
Q: How often do water systems have to test for lead?
For questions about lead in drinking water, contact the Kenosha Water Utility at 262-653-4330. In Pennsylvania, over 100 of the water systems tested in the last three years have exceeded the lead standard. “The public water system would then conduct additional monitoring and perhaps would need to take some corrective actions”. It had a sample result of 15.7 ppb in 2013 and has never had a sample below 4.5 ppb since testing began in 1992. Those systems serve schools, office parks, a state office, and apartment and condominium complexes across state. The number of residences required for sampling is determined by population, and they are to be selected in older parts of the system where the plumbing isn’t necessarily PVC or nonmetal.
In New Mexico, officials hope reorganization of the Drinking Water Bureau will lead to more proactive oversight and keep any lead exceedances from falling through the cracks. Sampling from 2014 showed up at 40 parts per billion, which the forest believes was a fluke, but now is under the limit, she said.
The residents collect water samples for the water system, which test them and submit the results to the state.
Water that has been listed as having unsafe levels of lead in them should provide their customers a way to help protect themselves.
“We have result transmittal letters that go out to the water producer”, he said.
“We comply with all of the Virginia Department of Health water regulations”, he said.
At Jefferson Alternative High School in Menan in eastern Idaho, occasional high lead samples have popped up with a 59 parts per billion reading in the first half of 2015. They are cautioned to refrain from using any of their tap water and only use bottled water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing dishes and bathing. Lead-based plumbing fixtures that were common in homes built before 1980 also contribute.
Children have been exposed to it from chewing on old paint chips, sucking on costume jewelry with lead in it and, in one instance, even a child swallowing a bullet, Yanity said.
Blood tests show cause for concern.
The other two Arkansas systems to report lead content above the regulatory limit were Keiser Waterworks, a system that serves about 1,500 people near Manila, and North Howard Rural Water Association, which serves roughly 1,000 near Umpire.
“We’ll have a renewed effort to focus on this to make sure they have the latest, greatest inventory”, said Corey McCoid, a DNR water supply operations supervisor. The bill also would require these proposed systems to consider joining existing water agencies.
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In the Marysville district, officials expect to spend tens of thousands of dollars this year on bottles of water for three campuses.
