More lead found in Newark schools' drinking water

[inanna]

Source: Associated Press

29 minutes ago

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Elevated lead levels have been found in more samples from New Jersey's largest school district.

Newark schools released data Thursday night showing that lead above the federally recommended threshold had been found in eight facilities used by city and charter schools.

The results come from buildings where lead testing did not occur last school year. The results show that 16 samples from drinking water sources showed levels about the 15 parts per billion threshold. Other samples came from utility sinks and from a transportation hub and athletic fields.

<snip>

Testing showed elevated lead levels in some buildings for years.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/more-lead-found-newark-schools-drinking-water-135736212.html

[drm604]

1. I have little doubt that this is a problem nationwide.

Next we'll be hearing that the federal standards are too strict and that higher levels are okay.

[Major Nikon]

3. Lead always has been a problem nationwide

That's why end testing is so important.

[RiverNoord]

2. This kind of reckless lead-pipe-bashing is just the sort of thing

that the lead-pipe industry has been warning about! There is not one legitimate study that indicates that lead pipes are inherently dangerous. Lead pipes don't hurt people, people who drink water carried by lead pipes hurt people!

Lead pipe is just a tool. It can be used by reckless people who drink water from it, or it can be used by responsible lead pipe owners who don't come into contact with the water that's carried in it.

The best solution to a bad guy with lead pipe is a good guy with lead pipe.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Nicely Done!

On a similar point:
First, since we knew the Romans were victims of too much lead, around 1200 years before we built our modern infrastructure, how did we miss the concern in the 1920's?

Also, not every situation mirrors Flint where the change in water supply affected the lead uptake of the water. So, that would suggest that all leaded pipe is going to ultimately be a problem, especially now that we're paying attention.

[RiverNoord]

7. You're absolutely right.

There is a tremendous amount of leaded pipe installed in home plumbing and in use with water supply utilities.

I think the more serious of the two problems is legacy pipe in residential installations, but we are probably going to be seeing a broader problem with utilities in the near future.

Most water suppliers have replaced most leaded pipe, but 'most' is the key word in both cases...

[ffr]

10. I see what you did there.

Clever!

[jtuck004]

11. Carry your lead pipe on your belt. You will feel taller. n/t

[Kip Humphrey]

4. Best way to know you have lead in your water: have a republicon governor.

[Kittycat]

9. Or Rahm Emanuel

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-chicago-lead-water-risk-met-20160207-story.html

More than two years after federal researchers found high levels of lead in homes where water mains had been replaced or new meters installed, city officials still do little to caution Chicagoans about potential health risks posed by work that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is speeding up across the city.

In a peer-reviewed study, researchers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found alarming levels of the brain-damaging metal can flow out of household faucets for years after construction work disrupts service lines that connect buildings to the city's water system. Nearly 80 percent of the properties in Chicago are hooked up to service lines made of lead.

The study also found the city's testing protocols — based on federal rules — are likely to miss high concentrations of lead in drinking water.

Yet when city officials notify homeowners about new water mains being installed, the letters do not mention potential lead hazards. Residents are advised merely to flush all faucets and hose taps for several minutes after the work is completed to remove any "particulates," a solution EPA scientists and independent experts say is grossly inadequate.

[proverbialwisdom]

6. More.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/11_cities_in_jersey_have_more_lead-affected_kids_t.html

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2016/03/elevated_lead_levels_found_at_8_more_newark_school.html

[karynnj]

8. What is scary is that Newark's water AT ITS SOURCE has few problems

They get their water from suburban and rural areas many miles to the northwest of Newark. Here is the source as described on Newark's documentation of its water source:

WATER SOURCE
The City of Newark’s water comes entirely from surface sources in the Pequannock and Wanaque
watersheds that cover 150 square miles of forestlands in Morris, Sussex and Passaic
Counties. Newark’s Pequannock Supply is from five pristine water supply reservoirs; the 14.4
billion gallon supply is from Charlottesburg, Echo Lake, Canistear, Clinton and Oak Ridge
reservoirs. NJDWSC gets its water from two of the most pristine water supply reservoirs in
the country; namely, the 29.6 billion gallon Wanaque and the 7 billion gallon Monksville.
The Commission also operates two pump stations designed to pump 250 million gallons
per day of water from the Pompton River and 150 million gallons per day from the Ramapo
River into the Wanaque Reservoir as needed. The New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection (NJDEP) has completed Source Water Assessment Reports and Summaries for all
Public Water Systems (PWS). Further information on the source water assessment program
can be obtained by logging on to NJDEP’s source water assessment website at www.state.
nj.us/dep/swap or by contacting NJDEP’s Bureau of Safe Drinking Water at 609-292-5550.
You may also contact the City of Newark Water Department at 973-256-4965.
The City of Newark was required to conduct the UCMR sampling and testing for the
Unregulated Contaminants Monitoring Rule (UCMR). During this testing no UCMR contaminants
were detected.



https://ndex.ci.newark.nj.us/dsweb/Get/Document-525123/2014%20Annual%20Water%20Quality%20Report%20CCR.pdf

On the link, you can see the measured level of lead in the water is zero.

What this says is that this is not like Flint, where the state intentionally switched between a reasonably clean source to one with an acidity that it led to huge levels of lead in the water. In many ways, it is scarier. It means that even with clean water delivered to a municipality with aging lead pipes, lead levels can be far too high. This means that even people who check out the level of various things in their water on the town or state websites before they buy a house are not checking what we always thought we were. It means that just as people in NJ put clauses in contracts to get the radon level in a house, the water out of the tap in a house should be checked.

I now wonder if anyone living in a town that has some pipes that are aging should test the water and demand their town fix the problem ... and, for themselves use filters on the water at least in the kitchen.