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By Carol Thompson
The Detroit News
Detroit (TNS) — The latest round of tap water sampling from Flint homes shows the city is in compliance with lead and copper standards in the Safe Drinking Water Act, meaning the city has met the standards for seven years following the lead contamination crisis. online news
To meet the standard, a municipal water supply must show at least 90% of water samples have lead levels at or below 15 parts per billion. In Flint’s recent round of testing, 90% of the samples came in at or below eight parts per billion for lead levels, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy announced Tuesday.
While there is no safe amount of lead exposure, the “action level” for lead is 15 parts per billion. The last round of sampling six months ago showed a 90th percentile at 9 parts per billion.
This lead pipe was replaced in a Flint home in July 2018. The city has met federal water standards for lead levels for the past seven years.
The latest testing, conducted in July, included 30 residences and 32 commercial properties served by lead service lines. Of those, four sampling sites had lead levels above 15 parts per billion, EGLE said. The department said all of those results were at commercial properties “where low water use patterns and aging interior plumbing continue to be contributing factors to lead levels.”
Michigan’s seventh most populous city has replaced more than 95% of residential lead service lines, EGLE said. The city’s water system has met state and federal standards since July 2016.
“Overall, the results are consistent with data from recent monitoring periods and continue to demonstrate that the city’s corrosion control program is effective,” EGLE said in its release.
Flint continues to grapple with the Flint water cCrisis, which started in 2014 when the city switched its water supply to the Flint River. The water was not treated with the proper corrosive controls. Residents and doctors sounded alarms about the water quality.
Then-Gov. Rick Snyder acknowledged the lead levels in 2015 and got the city’s water supply switched back to the Great Lakes Water Authority. Snyder declared a state of emergency in 2016.
Residents can get free water testing kits, water filters and replacement cartridges at Flint city hall. Flint public health workers will deliver test kits, filters and cartridges to people who can’t pick them up in person. The public health team is available at (810) 410-2020.
BlueTriton Brands Inc., which sells bottled water labeled as Ice Mountain, Poland Spring, Pure Life and more, stopped donating bottled water to Flint at the end of 2022, the city said in January.
To limit exposure to lead in drinking water, the state government recommends:
Use a filter that can reduce lead in drinking water.
Use cold filtered water.
Do not use hot water to drink, prepare food, cook or prepare baby formula.
Replace plumbing, pipes and faucets that could contain lead, such as those sold before 2014.
Clean the faucet aerator to remove debris.
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