Lead level highlights racial rift
Residents question safety of tap water
Meg Rafferty and Emily Torgrimson
Issue date: 12/2/05 Section: News
Boston water providers and servers say that recent "scare tactics" from groups claiming there is lead in Boston's water are unfounded because the lead is actually in the pipes, not directly in the water source. But at a City Council hearing Thursday, some councilors expressed concern that lead in piping can still be a risk for low-income families.
"There is no lead in the water. The lead is only in the home plumbing," said Ria Convery, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
Convery said misleading headlines have created the misconception that there is lead in the drinking water.
"The simplest fix to get rid of the lead is to let the water run for 30 seconds to a minute," Convery said. "Once it's free flowing and fresh, the lead is gone."
She said the MWRA samples the water twice a year, in March and in September, to ensure that lead levels are safely below the Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper action levels.
"It came to light in the early '90s that lead acted as a corrosive agent. After that, we took measures to change the corrosivity of the water," she said.
Convery said since 1996, water samples have shown that lead levels have dropped almost 80 percent. She said the lead areas were due to pockets of older houses with older plumbing.
Copper pipes soldered in lead can also cause problems.
Convery said the MWRA serves 47 communities, of which nine -- including Boston -- are at-risk areas.
"Boston's water is received from the MWRA with no lead in it, and the Commission has no lead water mains," James Steinkrauss, the lead project director at the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, said in an email. "It is only through water remaining stagnant in a lead service line, lead internal plumbing or in extended contact with lead plumbing fixtures that lead can leach into drinking water."
Steinkrauss said over the past 18 months, the Commission has spent more than $1 million to replace more than 25 percent of its public lead service lines, a pace almost four times its regulatory requirement. He said in 2004, the Commission initiated a program to entice Boston homeowners to remove lead from their homes. This program was one of the first of its kind in the country and remains the only such program in Massachusetts, he said.
"There is no lead in the water. The lead is only in the home plumbing," said Ria Convery, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
Convery said misleading headlines have created the misconception that there is lead in the drinking water.
"The simplest fix to get rid of the lead is to let the water run for 30 seconds to a minute," Convery said. "Once it's free flowing and fresh, the lead is gone."
She said the MWRA samples the water twice a year, in March and in September, to ensure that lead levels are safely below the Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper action levels.
"It came to light in the early '90s that lead acted as a corrosive agent. After that, we took measures to change the corrosivity of the water," she said.
Convery said since 1996, water samples have shown that lead levels have dropped almost 80 percent. She said the lead areas were due to pockets of older houses with older plumbing.
Copper pipes soldered in lead can also cause problems.
Convery said the MWRA serves 47 communities, of which nine -- including Boston -- are at-risk areas.
"Boston's water is received from the MWRA with no lead in it, and the Commission has no lead water mains," James Steinkrauss, the lead project director at the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, said in an email. "It is only through water remaining stagnant in a lead service line, lead internal plumbing or in extended contact with lead plumbing fixtures that lead can leach into drinking water."
Steinkrauss said over the past 18 months, the Commission has spent more than $1 million to replace more than 25 percent of its public lead service lines, a pace almost four times its regulatory requirement. He said in 2004, the Commission initiated a program to entice Boston homeowners to remove lead from their homes. This program was one of the first of its kind in the country and remains the only such program in Massachusetts, he said.
