Concerned about lead?
Elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children.
If there is a concern, a homeowner can have their water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps that can be taken to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791 or at http://www.epa.gov/safewater.
SOURCE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
There’s good news for area residents concerned about the quality of their local water and lead contamination in the wake of the situation in Flint, Mich.
The Journal-News reviewed the latest water quality reports and filings with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for several Butler and Warren county communities and found they all meet or exceed the established standards for clean drinking water.
There were no issues found in the last annual water quality reports issued by the cities of Hamilton, Middletown, Monroe, Franklin, Fairfield, Oxford, the Southwest Water District, Greater Cincinnati, Butler County or Warren County water systems. A check of the Ohio EPA’s Consumer Confidence Reports, which are filed each spring, also revealed no significant issues.
The data is a sigh of relief for many who have been following the tragic story of Flint, where that city’s water was found to be heavily contaminated with lead, which studies have linked to chronic and irreversible health problems, especially for children, and even death.
Most of the communities in Butler and Warren counties obtain their water from the same source, the Great Miami Aquifer.
All water systems test for various microbial, inorganic, pesticides and herbicides, radioactive, and organic chemical contaminants. The OEPA sets very stringent maximum contaminant levels that are permitted in drinking water.
In addition, there were no enforcement actions listed in the OEPA file in Butler County. There were two enforcement actions in Warren County that were taken against a campground in 2012 and a canoe rental for failure to monitor their individual water systems.
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Lead samples are required to be taken from water systems every three years, said Brandon Saurber, Hamilton’s chief of staff. Hamilton is well-known for being recognized as having the best tasting municipal water in Ohio for five of the past six years.
While Hamilton’s 2015 samples and levels were not available, in 2012, the lead level overall was well below the action level of 0.015 parts per million. In comparison, one part per million corresponds to a single penny in $10 million.
Of the samples for leads taken in 2012, Hamilton reported that two out of 30 samples was found to have lead levels in excess of the action level.
According to the OEPA, the typical source of lead comes primarily from materials and components associated with corrosion of service lines and home plumbing lines and not from the water treatment plants as well as erosion of natural deposits.
Scott Tadych, Middletown’s public works and utilities director, said houses built before the 1930s may have lead pipes in their water service line between the house and the shut-off valve at the water main. If it’s from the water main under the street to the shut-off valve on the public side of the right of way, that is the city’s responsibility to maintain.
“We’re not sure of the number of houses that may have lead lines,” he said. “When we find them, we notify the property owner. It’s up to the property owner to replace it.”
Tadych estimated the costs to replace a service line between the shut-off valve to a house at about $2,000.
He said water maintenance crews might come across about a half-dozen lead service lines every year. Tadych said that there have been no requests for lead testing recently. He also said if a resident has a concern the city can test their water.
Bob Leventry, Butler County Water and Sewer Department director, said based on a survey conducted in the 1990s, the agency concluded that it did not have any lead water lines serving any customer. He also the department does not have any lead in its public water mains.
“We do not know how many private homes and businesses may have traces of lead in their internal water pipes and water services or in the plumbing fixtures that are inside their private homes and businesses,” Leventry said in an email. “But we can offer helpful information to customers to determine if they might have plumbing or fixtures that may contain traces of lead.”
He said the county water system is fully compliant with the U.S. EPA and OEPA rules and regulations for lead in drinking water at the customers taps in their homes. Leventry also said the county water system has always exceeded EPA health standards for lead in drinking water. In addition, Butler County, which buys all of its water from the city of Hamilton and Cincinnati, has had a corrosion prevention plan with its water suppliers.
The county water system’s next EPA-required round of lead sampling and testing is scheduled for 2017.
Leventry said the county expanded its corrosion prevention and control program in 2003 by installing chemical feed facilities to further prevent and control lead in drinking water from household plumbing.
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