Water Quality and Concerns about Lead
By Chad Hanley and Corbet
Martin,
Herbert Rowland and Grubic
Engineering
Many
of our customers have been concerned with the recent news out of Flint,
Michigan in regard to lead being found within the water supply. To give you a better understanding of how
lead can get into the water supply, ECWSA is providing you with some background
information.
Lead is not generally found within raw water supplies. What can happen, and did happen in the case
of Flint, Michigan, is that the lead entered the drinking water supply by the
water coming in contact with plumbing, mainly the lines that connect the water
distribution system to the structure, made of or containing lead. This danger becomes much more pronounced when
the water is corrosive and not treated properly, both of which were the case in
Flint.
Corrosion is a
dissolving, or wearing away, of metal caused by a chemical reaction between the
water and the plumbing. A number of factors are involved in the extent to which
lead enters the water, including:
- the chemistry of the water
(acidity and alkalinity) and the types and amounts of minerals in the
water,
- the amount of lead it comes into
contact with,
- the temperature of the water,
- the amount of wear in the pipes,
- how long the water stays in pipes,
and
- the presence of protective scales
or coatings inside the plumbing materials.
According to information that can be found on the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA)’s website, “Homes
built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes, fixtures and solder. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) has
reduced the maximum allowable lead content -- that is, content that is
considered "lead-free" -- to be a weighted average of 0.25 percent
calculated across the wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing
fittings, and fixtures and 0.2 percent for solder and flux”.
The Safe Drinking Water Act includes the Lead
and Copper Rule, which requires corrosion control treatment to make drinking
water less corrosive with the materials that carry the flow.
Since dissolved lead can’t be seen, tasted or smelled, the only way to
determine if lead is in your water is to have it tested by a competent
laboratory. If a structure has lead pipes,
or if signs of corrosion are occurring in metal pipes, along with rust-colored
water and stained dishes and laundry, it would be beneficial to have the water
tested.
The ECWSA purchases water from the
Pennsylvania American Water Company that has been treated at their Ellwood City
Water Treatment Facility. The water
treatment plant is regulated (permitted) by the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection(DEP). The regulations of these agencies
establish testing requirements to ensure that the facility, and its produced
water, meets state and federal drinking water standards. Testing of the water takes place at various
locations throughout the process to ensure consistency with drinking water standards. According to the most recent PennsylvaniaAmerican Water Consumer Confidence Report, for the year 2015, the treated water
supplied from the Ellwood City complied with all State and Federal drinking
water requirements.
The
ECWSA owns and operates a distribution system that includes all of Evans City
Borough, and portions within Forward and Jackson Townships. ECWSA is responsible for the quality of water
once it enters in their system. ECWSA is
regulated to test the system for traces of lead and copper every three years. In 2013, ECWSA gathered 20 test samples from
20 existing ECWSA customers. These
samples were taken from faucets within homes or businesses and taken to a DEP
approved certified laboratory for testing.
Of the 20 samples gathered, only one showed a detectable amount of lead
at 0.0051 mg/l. This was well below the
acceptable limit of 0.015 mg/l.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a great source for obtaining information on
drinking water quality. In addition, the ECWSA
Consumer Confidence Report is a
valuable resource. For additional information on the Ellwood City Water
Treatment Facility please review the 2015
Consumer Confidence Report.
