Portland Water District working to fast-track completion of EPA lead inventory regulationsThe presence of lead in water can cause extreme health issues, leading to damage to the brain, kidneys, red blood cells, and more.
Author: Rya Wooten
Published: 7:14 PM EST December 4, 2024
Updated: 7:14 PM EST December 4, 2024
PORTLAND, Maine â Water supply systems across the country are working to remove any and all water pipeline services that contain lead after receiving new regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Portland Water District completed its service inventory before the Oct. 16 deadline, only finding one service line that contained lead and three galvanized lines, which were removed because they can be a source of lead if they were ever downstream of lead pipes.
The presence of lead in water can cause extreme health issues, leading to damage to the brain, kidneys, red blood cells, and more.
The EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) were issued in January 2021, serving as the first updates to the more than 30-year-old lead and copper rules. Under the updated regulations, public water systems must complete full inventories of their services to identify which service lines contain lead.
This requirement follows the lead contamination and poisoning crisis in Flint, Michigan.
In August of 2022, the EPA released "Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory" to support water systems with their efforts to develop inventories and eliminate lead contamination in drinking water.
Maine is many steps ahead of many states in the country.
"We're fortunate in Maine and at Portland Water District for the early decisions that were made to not use lead pipe or to use non-lead materials," Portland Water District Water Quality Program Manager Susan Jasper said.
Each building or home on a street typically has its own individual water service line. Over the past two years, the Portland Water District assessed all 56,000 service lines that it supplies water to, searching for water service lines that contain lead.
Amy Lachance from the Maine CDC said there's no such thing a safe level of lead in water.
Cities like Chicago mandated the use of lead material to make water pipelines until a federal ban on lead service lines took effect in 1986
"They are looking at a huge percentage of the lines that need to be taken out of the ground," Amy Lachance.
Jasper said while completing the lead inventory, they uncovered records that were more than 100 years old that detail what materials were used in water service lines.
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"This is the first service card that was installed in 1869 on Danforth Street," Jasper said.
She explained that the records they found prove that Mainers were thinking ahead.
"We actually came across and uncovered in 1926 a Maine state plumbing code that banned the use of lead on water service lines and that was instrumental in reducing the number of lead service lines in Maine," Jasper said.
Lachance said preliminary data shows that some 80 percent of service lines in Maine don't contain lead, leaving roughly 18 percent that are documented as containing unknown material, with the remaining including lead.
Public water supply systems across the country have 10 years to remove and replace all water service pipelines that contain lead.
Comments1
Portland, Oregon does not have lead service lines in its water
Portland, Oregon does not have lead service lines in its water distribution system:
No lead service lines
Portland has never used lead service lines, which are the pipes that bring water from large water mains to homes and buildings. By 1998, all known lead service connectors were removed from the water system.
Lead in plumbing
However, lead can enter drinking water from plumbing materials in homes and buildings, such as:
Lead solder, which was commonly used to join copper pipes in homes built or plumbed between 1970 and 1985
Brass plumbing components or fixtures installed before 2014
Water treatment
Portland treats its water to reduce lead levels at the tap. The water is treated with:
Sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide to increase the pH and alkalinity of Bull Run water
Sodium hydroxide to increase the pH of groundwater
Lead testing
Portland offers free lead-in-water testing to all residential customers and childcare providers. You can:
Request a free water test kit at leadline.org or by calling 503-988-4000
Request assistance or testing for schools by emailing WBWaterLine@portlandoregon.gov or calling 503-823-7525
Lead exposure
Other sources of lead exposure include:
Lead-based paint
Household dust
Soil
Painted antique furniture
Barro pottery
Cultural cosmetics
Turmeric purchased overseas