Get the lead out
Little has been done to remove the potent neurotoxin from city's water supply
By BRYN WEESE, SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 19th October 2008, 6:59pm
(Sun Media files)
Sixteen months ago,
Old lead pipes, installed in the 1950s and earlier, were leaching the metal, a
potent neurotoxin into tap water — posing a serious health risk to pregnant
women and children in particular.
An
investigation by the Sunday Sun has revealed that not only has little progress
been made to deal with the lead, tests show the problem has gotten worse.
-
Of 8,113 water samples Toronto Central Lab has received from residents for lead
testing since June 2007, the average amount of lead in those samples rose from
4.4 parts per billion (ug/L) in 2007 to 5.1 this year.
-
One in eight
-
The city has only replaced 5,500 of the 65,000 old water "supply" main
connections made of lead or that contain lead that were installed underground
prior to 1955.
-
Not a single water filter has been passed out to low-income families.
In
May 2007,
Half of those municipalities found lead levels above provincial standards and in
this city, even though just a relative handful of tests were conducted, two of
20 initial tests exceeded standards.
Subsequently, 12 of 160 tests exceeded standards.
The city's response was to "aggressively" replace the 65,000 underground lead
service connections.
According to Lou Di Gironimo, Toronto Water's general manager, the city is
moving "as quickly as possible" to dig up and replace those toxic connections
between the city's water mains and people's property lines. The plan, which
costs about $17 million annually and requires a full-time engineer to coordinate
the program, will take nine years.
"I'd say the city acted very, very quickly on dealing with the problem," he
said. "We put in place a plan to deal with (lead pipe) replacements within nine
years. From my perspective, that is extremely quick.
"We're going as quickly as we can, we can't tear up every street in the
downtown."
Di
Gironimo added the city also prioritizes lead pipe replacements for people whose
tests show their water is above the provincial maximum.
From when test results are known, he said, there is a six- to eight-week
turnaround.
However, Frank Zechner, the executive director of the Ontario Sewer and
Watermain Construction Association, said he believes the city will take longer
than nine years to replace its lead service connections.
But even its stated timeline, he charged, is far too slow. Similar programs in
the
"Replacing 5,500 out of 65,000 in just over a year is still a pretty lax pace,"
Zechner said.
That work also does nothing to address lead pipes and connections that run on an
individual's property.
There are, in fact, untold thousands of homes in this city with lead pipes
running from the basement to the street but unlike
That means that even if the city replaces lead mains in an old neighbourhood,
the pipes going to the houses and apartments will still be lead and the water
running to those homes may be contaminated with lead.
Replacing household supply lines is the responsibility of the homeowner and
could cost thousands of dollars.
Di
Gironimo said they monitor the city's water chemistry, but aren't altering it
for alkalinity to date.
"That's one thing you can do, the other thing you can do is just take the lead
pipe out of the ground, and that's the approach we've taken," Di Gironimo said.
The City of London, where the issue of excessive lead in drinking water was
first discovered in May 2007, is doing both.
So
far, t ve also begun adding sodium hydroxide to their water to curb it's
corrosion of lead.
And according to Jim Merritt, chairman of the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory
Council, water chemistry levels are perhaps more important than digging up the
lead connections.
"Simply thinking that you can go out and change lead service lines and walk away
and say you've solved the problem isn't the right approach," he said. "You
should only dig up the lead line pipes and everything else after you've done the
other good work and find out where the persistent problems are."
Altering the water's chemistry, something the city isn't doing but Merritt said
is a good approach, would be mandated by the province if 10% or more of
Torontonians drinking water was in excess of 10 ug/L.
While city tests (of unregulated samples collected by homeowners) show 10 to 12%
of residents in older homes have excessive lead levels, the province's first
round of twice-annual testing (of regulated samples collected by ministry of
environment employees) for 2008 showed only 4% were above the provincial
maximum.
"Clearly it indicates to me they're doing well," said Paul Nieweglowski,
In
the
If
excessive levels (above the U.S. standard of 15 ug/L) are still found, then 7%
of that system's lead service lines must be replaced annually, or until there
are no excessive lead test results in two consecutive six-month periods.
The new provincial regulations, introduced in 2007 to deal with the
province-wide problem of old lead water pipes, have no such teeth, allowing
municipalities to use sodium hydroxide and other "corrective" measures
indefinitely.
But even for those homeowners whose water contains an allowable limit of lead,
they may wait up to nine years for their pipes to be lead free.
Lead is a toxin that is especially harmful to children under the age of six, who
absorb lead more easily than adults and, because their brains are still
developing, can suffer a loss in intelligence and a higher risk of learning
disabilities. Some experts suggest there is no "safe" amount of lead a person
can drink.
As
for the increase in lead levels from last year, Di Gironimo suggested it was
"insignificant."
"When you're looking at micrograms, it's very, very small quantities. From an
analytical standpoint, that variance is not that significant.
"It's 0.7 of a microgram, it's very insignificant," he said. "At the end of the
day, it's simple. We know we have a lead problem, because we have lead services
out there, and that's the primary cause, so let's get on and change that."
Until the lead service pipes are removed, Di Gironimo added, there will continue
to be lead in the city's drinking water.
The lead levels found in the samples brought in to the city, even if they are
rising, are still well within the provincial limit, he said.
But Merritt said municipalities shouldn't necessarily concern themselves with
whether the lead level in the water is below the provincial standard, but should
pay more attention to the trends.
"They shouldn't get to fixed on the standard (of 10 ug/L). The standard is there
and it's an important thing to have, but the other thing they need to be
cognizant of is their trends," he said. "If you're trending in the wrong
direction, then that should be a sign that you need to be taking action at that
point, not waiting until you exceed the standard.
"If your trends are indicating that these levels are increasing, then even
though you're below the standard that should tell you that there's something
going on and you need to reexamine why those trends are going up, even if you're
well below the standard," he added.
"That, to me, is good due diligence practice."
"Simply thinking that you can go out and change lead service lines and walk away
and say you've solved the problem isn't the right approach," he said.
Following the results of the province-wide testing 16 months ago, the province
ordered all school boards and daycares to beef up their testing regimes and
initiate daily "flushing" of the water pipes to get rid of stagnant water that
could have accumulated more lead.
Earlier this fall, the Toronto District School Board, which still flushes the
water from all their schools' lines each morning, said none of their properties
showed unsafe levels of lead.
Residents of older homes built before 1952 are also encouraged to flush their
system each morning by running the tap for five minutes after each six-hour
period of stagnation.
But flushing water can be costly, especially with city water rates rising 9%
this year and the next three at least, and even after flushing, the amount of
lead in the water can still be too high for pregnant women and children under
the age of seven.
The Sun has learned, though, that no one has taken advantage of the city's Water
Filter Fund, which with provincial money, gives $100 to low-income families for
a water filter.
The program is for families who make less than $20,000 annually, have excess
levels of lead in their water, and have a child under six or a pregnant woman.
According to Brenda Nesbitt with the city's social services department that
administers the province's program, one reason it might not be being used is
because the criteria is so strict.
Peter Tabuns, the environment critic for the NDP, said the fact that no one has
taken up the Ministry of Environment's offer for the Water Filter Fund proves it
has "failed."
"If the water filter program has had no one pick up on it whatsoever, then there
are clearly mothers and children out there that are at risk," he said. "The
province should be moving quickly to reach those parents and children. The
criteria has to change ... because kids are drinking lead in their water and
they shouldn't be."
Environment Minister John Gerretsen was contacted but was not available for
comment.
---
USE COLD WATER, AND OTHER WAYS TO TACKLE TOXINS FROM YOUR TAP
-
-
People concerned about lead should flush their pipes each morning by letting the
water run for five minutes or by flushing the toilet and washing their hands.
-
Those with concerns about lead should also use cold water for drinking, cooking
or preparing baby formula. Hot water dissolves more lead from plumbing.
-
Pipes that deliver water from the city's main distribution lines to homes built
before 1955 often contained lead.
-
Lead in faucets, fixtures and solder used to connect copper pipes prior to the
late 1980s can also contribute to lead problems.
-
-The city is responsible for the portion of the pipe that runs from the main
water distribution line to the boundary of someone's property. A homeowner is
responsible for the section from the property line to a house.
-
It typically costs a homeowner from $1,000 to $2,500 to replace their section of
a lead water delivery pipe.
--
Source: City of