Post by leadhead on Jun 8, 2007 12:20:27 GMT -3
City finds no lead problems in drinking water Star Staff Local News - Wednesday, June 06, 2007 Updated @ 1:08:35 PM The City of Greater Sudbury said Wednesday that it did not find problems in any of the 79 homes it tested for lead. In a release, the city said it collected tap water samples from 79 homes across the Greater Sudbury area between May 28-31 in response to an order issued by the Ministry of the Environment."Samples were tested for the presence of lead in quantities greater than the 10 micro-gram per litre limit established by the Ministry of Environment, under the Safe Drinking Water Act," the city said. "No samples were found to have lead concentrations that exceeded the ministry standard." While it was only required to test 20 homes, the city said it obtained samples from 79 older homes (built before 1952), or areas where lead components were found in the past. The city’s water test results will be sent to the Ministry of the Environment by Wednesday’s deadline, where the results will be compiled with those from 35 cities other that conducted similar lead sampling programs.
Tests show lead levels OK, but questions linger
Denis St. Pierre / The Sudbury Star
Local News - Thursday, June 07, 2007 @ 09:00
Testing of household tap water in Greater Sudbury has found no problems with lead levels, city officials say. However, the sampling process used in such tests across the province is creating doubt about the reliability of results.
The City of Greater Sudbury tested tap water in 79 homes last week in response to a directive from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
The ministry ordered 36 municipalities to test household tap water for lead levels after learning of potential problems in some southern Ontario communities. Sampling in Greater Sudbury was conducted from May 28 to 31, on 79 homes built prior to 1952.
Pre-1952 homes were targeted for the provincial testing program because they are the most likely to have lead service pipes or pipes with lead solder. Lead is prone to leaching from such pipes into household water, particularly if it sits in the pipes for extended periods.
Lead in drinking water can cause serious health and developmental problems, particularly in children, as well as kidney problems and high blood pressure in adults.
All 79 homes tested in Greater Sudbury last week conformed to provincial standards for lead content, the city reported Wednesday. The city also tested samples at 37 points in the municipal water system, such as fire hydrants and other outlets.
"So we tested 116 locations across the entire city," said Greg Clausen, the city's acting general manager of infrastructure.
The city was required by the province to test only 20 homes and five other points in the distribution system. However, the city conducted broader testing to "assure the public that we're providing safe water," Clausen said.
Despite the apparent conclusiveness of the tests, critics allege the sampling method makes the results suspect, if not meaningless.
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory has dismissed the recent testing ordered by the environment ministry as "pointless."
The testing program used water samples that were taken only after taps were flushed for five minutes. Letting taps run for that length of time generally will eliminate most lead contamination and provide misleading samples, critics say.
The Canadian government is considering national standards that would require tests to be taken from water that has been stagnant in household pipes for at least eight hours.
Such a federal standard already is in place in the United States.
Clausen acknowledged that testing stagnant water in homes could reveal higher levels of lead or other contaminants.
"From that perspective, you would be more likely to get a higher level from a stagnant water source than you would from a freshly flushed source," he said.
However, Clausen also noted previous testing of stagnant water in household pipes in Sudbury revealed no problems with lead.
"When we did our original study, from 1997 to 2000, we found no appreciable difference in the testing between pre- and post-flushing," he said.
Last week's testing was conducted on samples taken from tap water in older homes in each of the former seven municipalities in the region, the city reported. dstpierre@thesudburystar.com Province rushes lead-testing law
James Wallace / Osprey News Network
Local News - Friday, June 08, 2007 @ 09:00
The Ontario government has passed sweeping new regulations requiring "rigorous" testing for lead in drinking water at provincial schools, day-care centres, and household taps, Environment Minister Laurel Broten said Thursday.
The new regulations come on the heels of provincially-ordered testing in 36 municipalities in which 16 showed lead in tap water samples.
"It's clear we need stronger drinking water regulations in Ontario to protect those most vulnerable to the effects of lead, our young children six years of age and under, as well as pregnant women," Broten said.
Ontario's tests revealed lead in 16 communities, including Brantford, Kawartha Lakes, Kenora, North Bay, Peterborough, Prince Edward County, Quinte West, Renfrew, Sault Ste. Marie, Smith's Falls, St. Catharines, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Welland and Windsor.
However, the samples from 20 household taps in each of those communities were taken after each tap had been "flushed" for five minutes.
Lead "service" lines were widely installed in homes and other properties before 1952 across Canada and the U.S. to connect household plumbing to city water mains.
As previously reported by Osprey News, tens of thousands of homes across Ontario still use lead service lines.
Lead solder was also widely used in residential, commercial and industrial plumbing before being outlawed in 1990.
That lead is now leaching into drinking water, particularly if has been standing in the pipes overnight, Ontario discovered in the testing conducted in 36 municipalities.
"My expectation would be that older cities across Canada likely have lead service lines," Jim Smith, the province's Chief Drinking Water Inspector, told Osprey News.
"I think they should be looking (for lead) as well," Smith said.
Jim Merritt, chairman of Ontario's Drinking Water Advisory Council and an advisor to the Walkerton Inquiry, said cities in other provinces also potentially have a lead problem in tap water.
"Assuming they're following the same practices as others did in the past, it could be possible," Merritt said.
"I know the City of Montreal had a significant problem and is dealing with it," he said.
Flushing is supposed to remove lead contamination but both Conservative leader John Tory and NDP critic Peter Tabuns have called for tests of "standing" water because most people don't flush their taps for five minutes before taking a drink.
Broten said the new regulations will require municipalities to test both water that been standing in pipes and after flushing.
Schools and day-care centers built before 1990 to test drinking water for lead annually and "flush" their water pipes for five minutes every day to remove potential lead contamination.
Municipalities will for the first time be required to regularly test tap water in residential neighbourhoods for lead, to notify homeowners of results and take "corrective" measures when elevated lead levels are found.
Lead is leaching into tap water in some cases because water is naturally corrosive and eats away at plumbing.
However, in other cases the local water is particularly corrosive because of pH levels and treatment practices.
London's lead problems, which have been investigated for a couple of months, as well as high contamination levels found in Renfrew and Smith's Falls in the latests test, are likely partially caused by water chemistry problems.
"This is a precautionary measure," Broten said of the new measures. "We are acting to prevent possible exposure to lead."
The province is launching a program to help low-income parents who live with infants and young children in older neighbourhoods to buy water filters.
And the province will "encourage" municipalities to conduct public education campaigns to warn residents who may have lead plumbing about flushing and other methods they can use to minimize exposure to lead.
Finally, the province will work to help municipalities replace lead service lines and make it easier to spread out the cost of replacing lead lines on water bills - which can run from $2,000 to $10,000.
Lead in drinking water can cause physical and developmental delays in children and kidney problems and high blood pressure in adults.
Acting Ontario Chief Medical Officer Dr. George Pasut said the health risks at present are "minimal" and that the public should not be afraid to drink their tap water.
Lead isn't the danger it was 30 years ago because lead in gas, paint and plumbing solder have all been banned, Pasut said.
"But as we've seen in recent weeks (that) problems can occur."
"If water is left standing in the pipes too long, some lead can dissolve," Pasut said.
Scientific studies have shown such leaching occurs within six to eight hours and the first water out of the tap is most contaminated. "There is no question that prolonged exposure to lead is a danger, particularly for children under six years of age and pregnant mothers," Pasut said.
"People should not conclude that their drinking water is no longer safe. They should stop trusting the water that comes from their taps," he said.
"They should simply know that action is being taken to head off any possible danger."
James Wallace is Queen's Park bureau chief for Osprey News Network.
Tests show lead levels OK, but questions linger
Denis St. Pierre / The Sudbury Star
Local News - Thursday, June 07, 2007 @ 09:00
Testing of household tap water in Greater Sudbury has found no problems with lead levels, city officials say. However, the sampling process used in such tests across the province is creating doubt about the reliability of results.
The City of Greater Sudbury tested tap water in 79 homes last week in response to a directive from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
The ministry ordered 36 municipalities to test household tap water for lead levels after learning of potential problems in some southern Ontario communities. Sampling in Greater Sudbury was conducted from May 28 to 31, on 79 homes built prior to 1952.
Pre-1952 homes were targeted for the provincial testing program because they are the most likely to have lead service pipes or pipes with lead solder. Lead is prone to leaching from such pipes into household water, particularly if it sits in the pipes for extended periods.
Lead in drinking water can cause serious health and developmental problems, particularly in children, as well as kidney problems and high blood pressure in adults.
All 79 homes tested in Greater Sudbury last week conformed to provincial standards for lead content, the city reported Wednesday. The city also tested samples at 37 points in the municipal water system, such as fire hydrants and other outlets.
"So we tested 116 locations across the entire city," said Greg Clausen, the city's acting general manager of infrastructure.
The city was required by the province to test only 20 homes and five other points in the distribution system. However, the city conducted broader testing to "assure the public that we're providing safe water," Clausen said.
Despite the apparent conclusiveness of the tests, critics allege the sampling method makes the results suspect, if not meaningless.
Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory has dismissed the recent testing ordered by the environment ministry as "pointless."
The testing program used water samples that were taken only after taps were flushed for five minutes. Letting taps run for that length of time generally will eliminate most lead contamination and provide misleading samples, critics say.
The Canadian government is considering national standards that would require tests to be taken from water that has been stagnant in household pipes for at least eight hours.
Such a federal standard already is in place in the United States.
Clausen acknowledged that testing stagnant water in homes could reveal higher levels of lead or other contaminants.
"From that perspective, you would be more likely to get a higher level from a stagnant water source than you would from a freshly flushed source," he said.
However, Clausen also noted previous testing of stagnant water in household pipes in Sudbury revealed no problems with lead.
"When we did our original study, from 1997 to 2000, we found no appreciable difference in the testing between pre- and post-flushing," he said.
Last week's testing was conducted on samples taken from tap water in older homes in each of the former seven municipalities in the region, the city reported. dstpierre@thesudburystar.com Province rushes lead-testing law
James Wallace / Osprey News Network
Local News - Friday, June 08, 2007 @ 09:00
The Ontario government has passed sweeping new regulations requiring "rigorous" testing for lead in drinking water at provincial schools, day-care centres, and household taps, Environment Minister Laurel Broten said Thursday.
The new regulations come on the heels of provincially-ordered testing in 36 municipalities in which 16 showed lead in tap water samples.
"It's clear we need stronger drinking water regulations in Ontario to protect those most vulnerable to the effects of lead, our young children six years of age and under, as well as pregnant women," Broten said.
Ontario's tests revealed lead in 16 communities, including Brantford, Kawartha Lakes, Kenora, North Bay, Peterborough, Prince Edward County, Quinte West, Renfrew, Sault Ste. Marie, Smith's Falls, St. Catharines, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Welland and Windsor.
However, the samples from 20 household taps in each of those communities were taken after each tap had been "flushed" for five minutes.
Lead "service" lines were widely installed in homes and other properties before 1952 across Canada and the U.S. to connect household plumbing to city water mains.
As previously reported by Osprey News, tens of thousands of homes across Ontario still use lead service lines.
Lead solder was also widely used in residential, commercial and industrial plumbing before being outlawed in 1990.
That lead is now leaching into drinking water, particularly if has been standing in the pipes overnight, Ontario discovered in the testing conducted in 36 municipalities.
"My expectation would be that older cities across Canada likely have lead service lines," Jim Smith, the province's Chief Drinking Water Inspector, told Osprey News.
"I think they should be looking (for lead) as well," Smith said.
Jim Merritt, chairman of Ontario's Drinking Water Advisory Council and an advisor to the Walkerton Inquiry, said cities in other provinces also potentially have a lead problem in tap water.
"Assuming they're following the same practices as others did in the past, it could be possible," Merritt said.
"I know the City of Montreal had a significant problem and is dealing with it," he said.
Flushing is supposed to remove lead contamination but both Conservative leader John Tory and NDP critic Peter Tabuns have called for tests of "standing" water because most people don't flush their taps for five minutes before taking a drink.
Broten said the new regulations will require municipalities to test both water that been standing in pipes and after flushing.
Schools and day-care centers built before 1990 to test drinking water for lead annually and "flush" their water pipes for five minutes every day to remove potential lead contamination.
Municipalities will for the first time be required to regularly test tap water in residential neighbourhoods for lead, to notify homeowners of results and take "corrective" measures when elevated lead levels are found.
Lead is leaching into tap water in some cases because water is naturally corrosive and eats away at plumbing.
However, in other cases the local water is particularly corrosive because of pH levels and treatment practices.
London's lead problems, which have been investigated for a couple of months, as well as high contamination levels found in Renfrew and Smith's Falls in the latests test, are likely partially caused by water chemistry problems.
"This is a precautionary measure," Broten said of the new measures. "We are acting to prevent possible exposure to lead."
The province is launching a program to help low-income parents who live with infants and young children in older neighbourhoods to buy water filters.
And the province will "encourage" municipalities to conduct public education campaigns to warn residents who may have lead plumbing about flushing and other methods they can use to minimize exposure to lead.
Finally, the province will work to help municipalities replace lead service lines and make it easier to spread out the cost of replacing lead lines on water bills - which can run from $2,000 to $10,000.
Lead in drinking water can cause physical and developmental delays in children and kidney problems and high blood pressure in adults.
Acting Ontario Chief Medical Officer Dr. George Pasut said the health risks at present are "minimal" and that the public should not be afraid to drink their tap water.
Lead isn't the danger it was 30 years ago because lead in gas, paint and plumbing solder have all been banned, Pasut said.
"But as we've seen in recent weeks (that) problems can occur."
"If water is left standing in the pipes too long, some lead can dissolve," Pasut said.
Scientific studies have shown such leaching occurs within six to eight hours and the first water out of the tap is most contaminated. "There is no question that prolonged exposure to lead is a danger, particularly for children under six years of age and pregnant mothers," Pasut said.
"People should not conclude that their drinking water is no longer safe. They should stop trusting the water that comes from their taps," he said.
"They should simply know that action is being taken to head off any possible danger."
James Wallace is Queen's Park bureau chief for Osprey News Network.