Thursday, July 06, 2006

Leaded or Unleaded

Many people are aware of the difficulties the WASA has had with trying to mitigate the high lead content in Washington's drinking water.

Water purchaced from the aquaduct has been treated with a flouride compound that will supposedly reduce the amount of lead pulled from the old pipes in the city. WASA continues to replace public pipes, but there is a long way to go.

In this report it is stated that DC WASA reports to the EPA on its progress, does its own testing, and submits its results. The threshold seems to be that 100 taps must be tested, and 90% must pass with less than the 15 parts per million, the maximum allowed.

Excuse me for being a little skeptical of the manner in which these tests are being conducted, and the potential for manipulating the test sites and metrics. The WASA has already been dinged by EPA on this in January of this year (see the above article).

WASA and the EPA need to ensure that the residents of Washington are safe, and that strict testing and validation of results are conducted before a change of policy is mandated.

Arent you glad that we get to pay for unhealthy water, and now pay for commercial filters to ensure our own safety?

1 comment:

jaime said...

At the very least, WASA should test all households and continue providing filters for that 8-10% whose water isn't meeting EPA standards. While it doesn't take into account my hesitation at believing EPA standard = safe for unfiltered consumption, it's better than what's being "offered."

We've always used a faucet-mounted filter, and we're fortunate to be able to afford it, but my ears still perked up when the home inspector pointed out our lead main line. Even the filters aren't 100% fail-safe....