Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act Lead and Copper Rule Testing Status - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act Lead and Copper Rule Testing Status

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act 399 enacted in 1976 to protect the public health  Amended in 2018 to add more stringent testing for lead and copper  First set of tests under new rules taken in July 2019  No change to the water supply but the sampling process did change  2018 Consumers Annual Report on Water Quality available on our website

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  EGLE (formerly MDEQ) designated new tiers for determining what homes to test  Now water for testing must come from buildings with lead service lines or lead pipes before sampling at buildings with other service line or plumbing materials  Lead service lines are the pipes that carry water from the City pipes into the home  Service lines can be made of plastic, copper, galvanized metal or lead

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  There are 2,600 homes in HW  There are 40 known homes with lead service lines  Information is from original records when homes were built and tapped into the water system

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  Prior rule required 5 homes be tested every 2 years  New rule requires 20 homes with lead service lines be tested annually esting protocol also changed so a 1 st liter  T and 5 th liter of water are collected  An action level of 15 parts per billion set

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  Any test that exceeds 15 ppb for lead is considered over the action level  Action level will be 12 ppb effective 2025  Two homes of the 20 tested exceeded the action level  The remaining homes had levels that ranged from undetectable to 5.6 ppb  The action level is not a health based standard but triggers a call to action  No homes exceeded the action level for copper  Not a violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  Once notified by EGLE, City must do the following:  Notify the property owner of test results within 30 days which has been completed  Send out a Public Advisory  Conduct Public Education campaign  T est again in 6 months and double the number of testing sites  Start inventory of entire city to determine where there are lead service lines by 1-1-20 and completed by 1-1-25

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING Next steps  Waiting for EGLE confirmation of test results and instructions for Public Advisory and Public Education campaign  A whole-house filter has been installed at the 2 homes by the DPW  City obtaining bids for replacement of the lead service leads  City responsible for cost of replacement  Must replace minimum of 7% of lead service lines per year and all within 20 years

LEAD AND COPPER TESTING RULE

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  Why do we care about lead?  No level of lead in the blood is safe; lead is a potent irreversible neurotoxin  Lifelong multigenerational impacts  Health effects from acute and chronic exposures  Biggest concern is young children and infants, who absorb more lead than the average adult  Health effect in children include: impaired mental development, IQ deficits, shorter attention spans, low birth weight

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  Lead can enter drinking water when comes into contact with pipes, solder and fixtures that contain lead  Homes with lead service lines have an increased risk of lead in drinking water  Check to see if the water service line is lead

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  Recommended actions to help reduce lead exposure  Run your water for at least 5 minutes to flush water with lead service lines; until water runs cold for non-lead service lines  Consider using a filter to reduce lead  Michigan Department of Health recommends any household with an infant, young child or pregnant woman use a certified lead filter  Use cold water for drinking, cooking or preparing baby formula  Do not boil water as boiling will not reduce the amount of lead in water  Clean your faucet aerator to remove trapped debris

LEAD AND COPPER RULE TESTING  Call the Department of Public Works for questions on your water service line at 248.547.1888  Call the DPW to have water tested if there is a lead water service line  Sign up for the e-newsletter at www.hwmi.org for updates  Email asullivan@hwmi.org or call 248.581.2632 with questions