![DC WASA lead water main - cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/DC_WASA_lead_water_main_-_cropped.jpg)
A lead service line (LSL, also known as lead service pipe, and lead connection pipe) is a pipe made of
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
which is used in
potable water
Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ag ...
distribution to connect a
water main
A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements.
Defini ...
to a user's premises.
Lead exposure
Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infe ...
is a public health hazard as it causes developmental effects in fetuses, infants, and young children. It also has other health effects in adults. According to
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
, the presence of lead service lines is the most significant contributor of
lead contamination in drinking water in many countries.
The most certain way to eliminate lead exposure in drinking water from the lead service lines is to replace them with pipes made from other materials. However, the replacements are time-consuming and costly. The difficulty is exacerbated in many locations by ownership structure that has a shared responsibility between
water utilities
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry does ...
and property owners, which requires cooperation between the two entities. Some water utilities employed corrosion control as a short-term solution while working through the long-term replacement projects. A potential issue with corrosion control is a constant monitoring of its effectiveness. There have been widespread lead exposures resulting from failures of corrosion control, such as the
Flint water crisis.
Background
Lead had been associated with plumbing since the ancient times. The chemical symbol of lead (''Pb'') was derived from the Latin word ''plumbum'' which means waterworks or plumbing as lead was used to make water pipes.
Lead water lines have also been known to be harmful since ancient times, though this is contested by industry trade groups within the United States.
![Lead-service-line-id-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Lead-service-line-id-2.jpg)
In modern times, lead was still widely used in water distribution systems and plumbing hardware before the early 20th century, including lead pipes, leaded solder and leaded alloys.
One part of the systems is the connections between the water mains and the water user locations. A service line is a pipe that makes the connection, which was also made of lead in those days. The first portion of the service line called gooseneck that connects to a valve at the water main requires to be flexible to allow some movements. Lead goosenecks (also called lead service connections or LSCs) were commonly used at the time due to the durability and flexibility.
In colder-weather areas, the connection between the water main and the rest of the service line is subjected to expansion and contraction during changing temperatures. When a stiffer service line made of galvanized steel pipe was used, a lead gooseneck was installed to connect to the water main to reduce breakages by such expansion and contraction.
From the mid-1800s to the early-1900s, many communities started to realize health risks of lead and began to phase out some of the lead-containing products.
[ In Australia, the use of lead service lines was restricted in the 1930s, while other countries still continued the practice of using lead service lines decades later. An example is in the United States, where many cities were allowed to use lead service lines up to the 1980s.] Not only they were allowed, some parts of the United States required to use lead service lines until 1987.[ This resulted in as many as 3.3 million lead service lines and 6.4 million lead goosenecks in the country. In England and Wales, there were about 8.9 million homes with lead service lines as of 1997.
In the 2010s, one-third of American communities still had lead service lines, with an estimate to be up to six million. Elimination had been extremely difficult due to the high cost of identifying, locating, removing, and preventing the many potential sources of lead in various water distributions systems in the United States.][
]
Health effects
Lead exposure, even at low levels, can cause neurological effects, especially in young children, young women, and developing fetuses. In fetuses, lead in mother's bones is released along with calcium as part of the fetal bone formation. Lead exposure can also cross placental barrier
The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate matern ...
into a fetus. This could cause premature birth, growth issues, and death of the fetus. In infants, lead exposure from mother can pass through breast feeding. In children, the effects of lead exposure include learning problems, slow growth, and lower IQ. In adults, low level exposure can cause hypertension
Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
, cognitive issues, and reproductive harms.
Regulations
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO) published the first edition of Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (GDWQ) in 1984 to replace the 1970 European Standards for Drinking-Water and 1971 International Standards for Drinking-Water. The publication recommended the limits of contaminants in drinking water which set the value for lead to not more than 0.05 mg/L based on an assumption about various sources of lead intake and the provisional tolerable weekly intake of 3 mg of lead per adult that was established by Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is an international scientific expert committee that is administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). ...
(JECFA) in 1972. However, no safe levels had been defined. In 1986, JECFA updated the provisional tolerable weekly intake level of lead for infants and children to be based on body weights at 25 micrograms of lead per one kilogram of body weight. JECFA reconfirmed this provisional tolerable value and extended the same value to all age groups in 1993. When WHO published the second edition of GDWQ in 1996, it based the on the new JECFA value with assumptions that 50% of lead exposure were from drinking water and a 5-kg infant consuming 0.75 liters from bottles per day, and infants are in the most sensitive subgroup. Therefore, WHO established the guideline value of lead concentration in drinking water not to exceed 0.01 mg/L.
Argentina
As of early 2020 Argentina sets a standard of 0.05 mg/L based on Resolution no. 523/95-MTSS which is an amendment of law 19587.
Australia
In 2004, Australia lowered lead exposure limit to 0.01 mg/L from 0.05 through the 2004 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. However, this is a guideline, not a mandatory standard.
European Union
On 3 November 1998, the European Union adopted Directive 98/83/EC to set standards on drinking water. This included a plan to lower the lead contamination in the water distribution systems of member states. The Directive sets the maximum lead concentration in drinking water at 0.025 mg/L by 2003, and 0.01 by 2013.
A study in 1999 gave an estimate of the lead service lines in some European countries. Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Portugal, and Belgium all had higher percentages of lead lines ranging between 15% and 51%. Germany, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands had between 3% and 9%, while Denmark and Greece had less than 1%.
The approaches to reduce lead exposure in water distribution systems to meet that goal have also been different. For example, the United Kingdom took the short- and medium-term strategy of dosing the water with orthophosphate as a corrosion control measure and considered lead service line replacement as the long-term strategy. By 2010 (3 years before the new lower standard), 95% of public water supplies were treated with orthophosphate. The tests had 99.8% compliance of 0.025 mg/L 2003 standard and 99.0% compliance of 0.01 mg/L 2013 standard. However, many other European countries considered the practice of adding orthophosphate to the water supply to be undesirable as it would result in sewage with higher concentrations of nutrient. That could potentially create problems of harmful algal bloom
A harmful algal bloom (HAB) (or excessive algae growth) is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means. HABs are sometimes ...
s. An example of a country that took another approach was Germany. The southern part of Germany had prohibited lead pipes more than 100 years ago. However, northern Germany continued to use lead pipes until the 1970s. The approach to meet the new standard for Germany was to put a focus on getting rid of lead service lines. Water utilities in northern Germany had already been working on lead service line replacements since the adoption of the Directive, in order to meet the 2003 standard.
Canada
In 1992, the federal government set the guideline to have the Maximum Allowable Concentration (MAC) of lead in drinking water at 0.01 mg/L. On 8 March 2019, Health Canada
Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary unit ...
updated the guideline to lower the MAC of lead to 0.005 mg/L, one of the lowest values in the world.[ Regulation of these guidelines are performed at the provincial level, and is inconsistent.]
On 4 November 2019, Concordia University
Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...
published a year-long study which found that one-third of water samples from 11 major Canadian cities tested higher for MAC of lead than the national guideline, with the highest levels recorded from samples in Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...
, and Regina. It was also found that some municipalities only had estimates on the number of lead service lines still in use, with no exact data available.
United States
As of 2019, federal regulations in the United States specify an "action level" for lead at 0.015 mg/L. A public water system
Public water system is a regulatory term used in the United States and Canada, referring to certain utilities and organizations providing drinking water.
United States
The US Safe Drinking Water Act and derivative legislation define "public water ...
is required to monitor its water supply at customer locations. If more than 10% of tap water samples exceed the lead action level (or the copper action level of 1.3 ppm), the supplier must take additional steps to control corrosion. Other actions may include installation of treatment, checking of source water, removal of lead-containing plumbing, and public education. If corrosion control and monitoring of source water measures fail to keep lead exposure under the action level, water utilities must initiate a lead service line replacement program with at least 7% of total lead service lines identified at the beginning of the program to be replaced annually.
Uruguay
Uruguay set the lead exposure of drinking water to 0.05 mg/L in 2000 through Decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
315/94, 2nd edition. It also banned lead water pipes and fittings in 2004. The country set new standards in 2011 through Decree 375/11 to lowered exposure level to 0.03 mg/L and to achieve 0.01 mg/L level by 2021.[
]
Replacements
Responsibilities
There are two parts in a service line. The first part is the pipe that connects the water main to the ''curb stop'' which is a stop valve
Stop may refer to:
Places
* Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Facilities
* Bus stop
* Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...
that is located around the street curb or the property line
A unit of real estate or immovable property is limited by a legal boundary (sometimes also referred to as a property line or a lot line). The boundary (in Latin: ''limes'') may appear as a discontinuation in the terrain: a ditch, a bank, a hedge, a ...
. That first section is called ''communication pipe''. The second part is the pipe that connects the curb stop to the building inlet or a water meter. This part is called ''supply pipe''. Depending on local water utilities, sometimes the meter is located at the property line instead. When the water meter is located at that alternative position, the pipe section that connects the water main to the water meter is the communication pipe, and the section that connects the water meter to the building isolation valve An isolation valve is a valve in a fluid handling system that stops the flow of process media to a given location, usually for maintenance or safety purposes. They can also be used to provide flow logic (selecting one flow path versus another), an ...
is the supply pipe. Lead service lines can be in one of these scenarios: the communication pipe section can be made of lead, that is called lead communication pipe; the supply pipe section can be made of lead, that is called lead supply pipe; the entire length can be made out of lead; or only a small section of the communication pipe at the water main is made out of lead (lead gooseneck).[
The ownership structure of service lines varies among water utilities. Depending on localities, the entire length of a service line from the water main to the building inlet may be owned by the water utility, or the property owner. There can also be a partial ownership scenario where the water utility and the property owner share ownership of the service line, thus, replacing the entire lead service line requires a cooperation between the two entities. In the shared ownership, the water utility typically owns the communication pipe and the curb stop, and property owner owns the supply pipe. In this scenario, when the water utility owned section of a lead service line is called ''public lead service line'', and the section owned by the property owner is called ''private lead service line''. When only one part of a lead service line (either public or private) is replaced, it is called ''partial lead service line replacement''. When both sides are replaced at the same time, it is called ''full lead service line replacement''.][
When there is an involvement with private ownership, it complicates a full lead service line replacement. A major issue is the cost of the replacement. In the United States, a replacement can cost between $3,000 to $5,000 (2018 estimate) for the private side. This can be a major financial burden for homeowners. Even with different incentives for homeowners such as interest-free loans, or using ratepayer money to cover part of the cost, the homeowners are still hesitant.] Using the ratepayer money to fund private lead service line replacements in itself is a subject of a debate. People who advocate for it argue that benefits to the public health outweigh a small increase in water rates that impacts everyone. On the other side, there is a concern that the increased rates can cause hardship, and there is a public policy question on using ratepayer money to make private property improvements.
Even in the case that private lead service line replacements that are fully funded at no cost to property owners, some owners still refuse to allow their water utility to work in their property for various reasons, such as fearing of damages done to the property, or not wanting workers to be inside. For example, in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, 10% of property owners refused the no-cost private lead service line replacement.[ This problem is exacerbated in rental properties where tenants had no authority to accept the offer, and the landlords do not see the value of the investment.][ For cities with a large amount of renters, it will be difficult to complete a full lead service line replacement program without any forms of mandate through a ]local ordinance
A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like.
China
In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () af ...
. Alternately, some common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
jurisdictions may have enough legal precedent
A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...
in regard to public nuisance
In English criminal law, public nuisance was a common law offence in which the injury, loss, or damage is suffered by the public, in general, rather than an individual, in particular.
In Australia
In ''Kent v Johnson'' the Supreme Court of the ...
law. The court may allow the municipality to access a private property to address the public health threat without having to obtain a permission from the property owner.
Partial replacements
A partial lead service line replacement involves replacing a service line in only one portion (whether it is the public or private portion) and leave the other portion intact. This practice does not completely remove the lead source from the water distribution. Additionally, studies have found that a partial lead service line replacement can cause short-term elevation of lead concentration due to the disturbances during the replacement. An Advisory Board of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
concluded in 2011 that they had enough data to show that such practice could pose a public health risk. An Advisory Committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
agreed with that position. Therefore, a partial lead service line replacement should be avoided.[ In 2014, the ]American Water Works Association
American Water Works Association (AWWA) is an international non-profit, scientific and educational association founded to improve water quality and supply. Established in 1881, it is a lobbying organization representing
a membership (as of 2012) o ...
published a communication guideline with a definition of a partial lead service line replacement to include a repair and a reconnection to a lead service line. It recommended that entire lead service line should be replaced instead of a partial replacement. They also provided a guidance on homeowner notifications before partial replacements and water utilities' commitment to follow-up tests.[ In 2017, a study of the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities concurred that partial replacements can aggravate the problem of lead exceedances.
]
Full replacements
A full lead service line replacement involves replacing the entire service line from the water main to the building inlet. This includes the public and the private portions of the line. In a full lead service line replacement, there should be a coordination with the property owner as it may involve going through obstacles such as trees, driveways, and walls. Sometime, there is a need to break through the customer's basement wall.[
Although a full lead service line replacement is a preferred method, it does not come as risk free. There are short-term elevation of lead concentration as well, but it tends to release less lead and to release lead for a shorter period of time. A research has found that even with a full lead service line replacement to completely remove lead source, lead exposure can still exist in the home. In the study it is particularly true when the water source is rich in ]manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...
and iron that has caused the scale build-ups in the interior wall of the home's pipes. The scales can absorb lead from the time before the replacement. When the scales crumble from the pipe walls even after the replacement, they carry lead to customer's tap in particulate form which may continue after the replacement for years. Therefore, an internal plumbing flushing is still required after a full lead service line replacement.[
]
Post replacement flushing procedures
After work done on or near a lead service line, whether it is a partial or full replacement, or other disturbances such as changing of the water meter, the water utility should perform a flushing procedure to take out lead that has been lodged into the building plumbing. Homeowner should not run water through any water filter devices, use hot water or ice makers, or consume tap water until the flushing procedure is completed. For this special flushing procedure, the water utility will perform an initial flush after the work is done. Then the worker will start from the lowest floor to open all cold water taps, showers and bathtub faucets throughout the home. Faucet aerator
A faucet aerator (or tap aerator) is often found at the tip of modern indoor water faucets. Aerators can simply be screwed onto the faucet head, creating a non-splashing stream and often delivering a mixture of water and air.
Function
An aerato ...
s will be remove during this procedure. At the top floor where the last tap is open, wait for 30 minutes, then start turning off the tap and put back the faucet aerators from the top floor down to the lowest floor.
Replacement progress
Lead exposure in drinking water that is caused by lead service lines can be mitigated in a short term by using corrosion control techniques. However, the only long-term solution is to completely replace them with other materials.[ Below is a partial list of replacement efforts by water utilities around the world:
]
Mitigation
While full lead service line replacement is the permanent solution, such undertaking will take years or decades. Water utilities and customers need to use other strategies to mitigate the lead exposure risks in the short term.
Internal corrosion control
Various techniques can be used by water utilities
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry does ...
to control internal corrosions, for example, pH level adjustment, adjustment of carbonate
A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...
and calcium
Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...
to create calcium carbonate as piping surface coating, and applying a corrosion inhibitor
In chemistry, a corrosion inhibitor or anti-corrosive is a chemical compound that, when added to a liquid or gas, decreases the corrosion rate of a material, typically a metal or an alloy, that comes into contact with the fluid. The effectiveness ...
. An example of corrosion inhibitor is using phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
products such as orthophosphate
A phosphoric acid, in the general sense, is a phosphorus oxoacid in which each phosphorus (P) atom is in the oxidation state +5, and is bonded to four oxygen (O) atoms, one of them through a double bond, arranged as the corners of a tetrahedron. ...
to form films over pipes. This reduces the chance of leaching
Leaching is the loss or extraction of certain materials from a carrier into a liquid (usually, but not always a solvent). and may refer to:
* Leaching (agriculture), the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil; or applying a small amou ...
of trace metal including lead from the pipe materials into the water. Another example of corrosion inhibitor is to use silicate
In chemistry, a silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name is al ...
products. However, the mechanism of film forming and its effectiveness are not well understood.
Flushing
American Water Works Association
American Water Works Association (AWWA) is an international non-profit, scientific and educational association founded to improve water quality and supply. Established in 1881, it is a lobbying organization representing
a membership (as of 2012) o ...
recommends for a home with lead service line that homeowner should do a morning flush by running the water at the kitchen tap for 3–5 minutes. The amount of required flushing may be longer if the house is far back from the curb which would have a longer lead service line. In order to conserve water, showering and flushing the toilet can also be used.[ However, those alternative activities will not flush the line at the kitchen where it is the main tap for water consumption. An additional flushing at the kitchen tap for 30–45 seconds is recommended.]
Filters
In certain cases when flushing is not practical, such as having a very long lead service line, using filters may be considered. When choosing filters, water consumers should select the products that remove ''total lead'' that includes filtering of dissolved lead and lead particles.[ In United States, it is recommended that the filters are certified according to American National Standard Institute/National Science Foundation Standard 53][
]
Widespread hazards and causes
There were widespread lead contamination in drinking water incidents related to lead service lines. These were caused by many reasons that resulted in elevated levels of lead leaching.
Changing of water source
In 2014, Flint water crisis was caused by switching of water source from Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's treated water to Flint River
The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from the u ...
which would be treated locally in Flint. The treated Flint River water changed the water properties in Flint's distribution system in three areas. First the corrosion inhibitor
In chemistry, a corrosion inhibitor or anti-corrosive is a chemical compound that, when added to a liquid or gas, decreases the corrosion rate of a material, typically a metal or an alloy, that comes into contact with the fluid. The effectiveness ...
was not added to the treated water. Secondly, the pH level had been changed over time to lower levels. Thirdly, the chloride level was higher than treated Detroit's water. The combination of these factors contributed to the corrosiveness of the water, causing corrosion to lead and iron pipes. The solution was to switch the water source back to Detroit's water supply and replace 30,000 lead service lines.
Changing of disinfection chemical
In 2000, lead contamination in Washington, D.C. drinking water
While performing research into premature pipe corrosion for the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) in 2001, Marc Edwards, an expert in plumbing corrosion, discovered lead levels in the drinking water of Washington, D.C., at l ...
was caused by changing the disinfection chemical from chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...
to chloramine
Chloramines refer to derivatives of ammonia and organic amines wherein one or more N-H bonds have been replaced by N-Cl bonds. Two classes of compounds are considered: inorganic chloramines and organic chloramines.
Inorganic chloramines
Inorgan ...
for water treatment. This was done as a measure to limit disinfection byproduct
Disinfection by-products (DBPs) result from chemical reactions between organic and inorganic matter in water with chemical treatment agents during the water disinfection process.
Chlorination disinfection byproducts
Chlorinated disinfection agen ...
s according to a new regulation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
. The change inadvertently reduced the protective mineral coating properties in the water. That caused the scaling
Scaling may refer to:
Science and technology
Mathematics and physics
* Scaling (geometry), a linear transformation that enlarges or diminishes objects
* Scale invariance, a feature of objects or laws that do not change if scales of length, energ ...
that had been covering the interior surface of lead service lines for decades to be reduced to the point that it allowed lead to leach into the water. The solution was to replace all 23,000 lead service lines. However, 15,000 of those was done as partial replacements which was found to be ineffective.
Changing of corrosion control chemical
In 2014, Pittsburgh water crisis
The Pittsburgh water crisis arose from a substantial increase in the lead concentration of the city's water supply. Although catalyzed by the hiring of cost-cutting water consultancy Veolia in 2012, and an unauthorized change of anti-erosion chemi ...
was caused by unauthorized switching of anti-corrosion agent from soda ash
Sodium carbonate, , (also known as washing soda, soda ash and soda crystals) is the inorganic compound with the formula Na2CO3 and its various hydrates. All forms are white, odourless, water-soluble salts that yield moderately alkaline solutions ...
to caustic soda
Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions .
Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alka ...
. The city had been using soda ash for decades as a corrosion control chemical. Soda ash's alkalinity helps the metals to be less corrosive. It also has another property that leaves a solid residue which encourages mineral buildup as a protective layer within the interior surface of the pipes. Although caustic soda has similar alkalinity, it does not help in buildup creation. After switching the corrosion control chemical, the buildup in the city's distribution system started to disappear causing leaching in the lead service lines. The short-term solution was to use orthophosphate to create coating. The long-term solution was to do full lead service line replacements. The city started the replacements in 2016. By 2019, 4,200 lead service lines had been replaced. On the same year, the city budgeted $49 million to replace another 4,400 public service lines and offer no cost private line replacements at the same time.
Adjustment of pH levels
In 2016, water in Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, New Jersey started having elevated lead levels. A year earlier, the city tried to adjust the pH levels in order to control carcinogen
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...
s in the system. The result of higher acidity caused the sodium silicate
Sodium silicate is a generic name for chemical compounds with the formula or ·, such as sodium metasilicate , sodium orthosilicate , and sodium pyrosilicate . The anions are often polymeric. These compounds are generally colorless transparent ...
that was used successfully as corrosion inhibitor for two decades to stop working. It took the city until 2018 to figure out the short-term solution to change to use orthophosphate, but that would take another six months to become effective. Water bottles and water filters were distributed as a stop gap. The long-term solution was for the city to do 18,000 full lead service line replacements. The city took unprecedented steps by borrowing $120 million to shorten the replacement timeframe to 3 years from 10 years, and working with legislators to come up with a law that allows the city to force replace the private portion of the lines free of charge and without any permission from property owners.
Physical disturbances
In Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, after Mayor Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...
took office in 2011, he initiated a $481 million water conservation initiative that included household water meter replacements. The work was carried in a multi-year project. In 2013, a study by United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
(EPA) concluded that disturbances to lead service lines including street work or water meter installation could cause the leaching of lead to be elevated for months or years. During Mayor Emanuel's administration, the city consistently denied that it had any widespread problems of lead in water, and continued the meter installation. In July 2019, Mayor Lori Lightfoot
Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as ...
who took office in the same year announced that the tests had shown elevated levels of lead in more than 1 in 5 metered homes, and she ordered to halt the meter installation program. The city also faced a lawsuit filed on behalf of the residents to force the city to solve the problem by replacing their lead service lines.
Also with the water related projects, Mayor Emanuel borrowed $412 million from 2011 to 2016 with two-thirds of that money went to replacements of water mains, but those projects didn't include lead service line replacements. The workers would reconnect lead service lines to the newly installed water mains. In 2016, the city claimed that there was no evidence of risks associated with that method. The claim contradicted the 2013 EPA report and another finding in 2015 by the City of Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
that prompted Milwaukee to stop installing new water mains. In addition to potential issues with reconnecting lead service lines back to water mains, there were also concerns about how the city repaired damages. During the projects, when the city damaged a lead service line, the city workers would cut off the broken part of the lead service line and replace that short section with a copper line. A scientist who tested the water after that repair procedure was done on his home found an extremely high level of lead. However, the city did not perform any tests or notified any homeowners on such repairs as that type of repairs was not considered to be a partial lead service line replacement, therefore, follow-up tests were not required by regulations. An EPA Advisory Board concluded that the procedure could be more dangerous than a partial lead service line replacement. After 87 months of work when the city completed two-thirds of the water main replacement project, the total amount of repairs using that procedure was still not available. There was an incomplete record that only showed a one-month snapshot to indicate that nine such repairs were done during that month.
Unspecified causes
In some cases, high level of lead in drinking water may have not been caused by a specific incident. The cause may or may not be pinpointed to lead service lines.
In 2015, Irish Water
''Uisce Éireann'', formerly and commonly known as Irish Water, is a state-owned water utility company in Ireland. It was created by the Irish Government through the Water Services Act 2013, which formally created the company as a subsidiary of ...
sent out a warning that 126 households in Wexford
Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...
had the level of lead that exceeded the limit. It urged residents to stop using their water for drinking unless a five to ten minute flush had been performed. The company also recommended owners to replace their lead service lines which are responsibility of property owners in Ireland. Starting in 2017, more than 30 areas across Ireland had found to have unsafe level of lead. Irish Water had been replacing lead service lines at their own costs as part of their leakage reduction program.
In 2017 a report from French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) indicated that many older properties are at risk of high lead concentration, especially for those properties located in areas with older water distribution system
A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements.
Defini ...
s. The agency urged property owners to take mitigation efforts including replacements of water pipes.
See also
* Lead poisoning
Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, inferti ...
* Plumbosolvency
Plumbosolvency is the ability of a solvent, notably water, to dissolve lead. In the public supply of water this is an undesirable property. In (usually older) consumers' premises plumbosolvent water can attack lead pipes, lead service lines, and a ...
* Water distribution system
A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements.
Defini ...
References
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Plumbing
Water supply infrastructure
Lead poisoning