No safe level for lead
‘Legacy contaminant’ a dilemma across Atlantic Canada
There’s no absolutely “safe" level of lead in drinking water.
That’s according to both the World Health Organization and Health Canada, although the latter has set the acceptable upper limit at a maximum five parts per billion.
The federal guideline on lead in drinking water has been sharply lowered over the years, most recently last March, when it was halved.
Lead’s impact on the human body is frightening. The nervous, digestive, cardiovascular, reproductive and renal systems, along with the brain, can all be extensively damaged, at any age, by lead exposure, which can be cumulative.
Young children and pregnant women are particularly at risk, with links to severe developmental problems, including lowered IQ and stunted growth, and learning and behavioural disabilities.
Real progress has been made in reducing lead exposure in many places across the country. But far too many Canadians — and their children — still consume water with lead levels known to be dangerously harmful to their health.
That’s clear from recent coverage by Saltwire journalist Brett Bundale about ongoing problems with lead in drinking water in the Atlantic region, and stories from a separate, year-long, Canada-wide investigation into the same problem by hundreds of journalists from 10 media organizations and nine universities.
Both identified one of the biggest obstacles: Canada’s fractured approach to the issue.
Compared to the U.S. and many other developed nations, this country suffers from a shocking lack of common standards, for everything from testing protocols to mandated removal regulations to financial assistance programs for remediation work.
For example, different places test for lead differently. Some jurisdictions flush lines before taking water samples, while others let water stagnate in pipes overnight (which experts say gives more accurate results).
Cost is, understandably, often a major barrier for homeowners. In Atlantic Canada, St. John’s will replace lead service lines to homes for free, Halifax offers rebates of 25 per cent, up to $2,500, for the same work, while Charlottetown and Saint John currently offer no financial help whatsoever.
Other sources of lead in drinking water include solder in plumbing lines and some bathroom fixtures.
Many provinces don’t do routine testing or publicize results, which, given the danger to health, is unacceptable. We applaud Ontario backbench MP Bob Bratina’s proposed private member’s bill to create a national strategy to deal with lead in drinking water.
More such political leadership — at all levels of government — is obviously needed to tackle this problem.
HALIFAX — Steve Mackay has lead in his water.
It’s a problem he’ll fix as soon as he has the money to replace the aging grey pipe running from his property line to his north-end Halifax home.
But for now, his family only drinks water that passes through a filtration system — an imperfect solution with a young child who surreptitiously slurps up bathwater.
“He’s just being silly and will try to drink the bathwater,” Mackay says. “It’s a concern for us, but we just can’t afford to replace the lead pipe right now.”
He’s not alone. Thousands of homes in Atlantic Canada have lead service lines, despite efforts by utilities to raise awareness about the issue and offer financial aid to replace old pipes.
The situation raises potentially serious public health concerns, as well as questions of who should pay to replace toxic lead pipes or whether more could be done to limit possible lead exposure.
Until the mid-1950s, lead was the standard material for service lines — the water pipes connecting a home to a street’s water main.
“Lead was very affordable and pliable, so it was easy to work,” says Graham Gagnon, a Dalhousie University professor and director of the Centre for Water Resources Studies.
“The health concerns of lead weren’t on the radar.”
Lead pipes continued to be permitted by the National Plumbing Code of Canada until 1975, when awareness about the risk of lead grew.
Over time, the corrosion of lead pipes and plumbing can cause lead to leach into drinking water. Lead exposure has been identified as a significant health concern, particularly among children, and has been linked to behavioural and developmental problems.
By the mid-1990s, the public portion of most lead service lines — the lateral pipe running from the main line to the sidewalk — were converted to copper.
But some “previously unknown” lead service lines continue to be found.
“We occasionally find previously unknown lead service lines during capital construction, and when we do, the city replaces its side (and) notifies the customer,” Nicole Taylor, Moncton’s director of utilities, stated in an email.
Despite the occasional surprise lead public pipe, utilities across Atlantic Canada say drinking water is essentially lead-free in the distribution systems.
The issue is with private pipes — those that run from the sidewalk to the house — and indoor plumbing like lead solder and faucets.
A 2017 report by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board said some of Halifax Water’s customers with lead service lines are “being exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead.”
The utility estimates there are 2,000 public and 3,500 private lead lines in the city.
Other cities in Atlantic Canada are struggling with the same issue.
Charlottetown’s utility says the city has about 2,000 residential and commercial customers with lead pipes.
In New Brunswick, Moncton estimates there are about a dozen water customers with lead pipes, while a spokesperson for the city of Saint John said the municipality does not have an estimate for the number of privately owned lead services.
The City of St. John’s doesn’t have records for the location or quantity of lead services, but will replace lead pipes for free.
“If the city finds a lead service for a residential property, then the city will excavate and replace it at no cost,” Lynnann Winsor, deputy city manager of public works, stated in an email.
It’s one of the most generous lead service replacement programs in the country.
Given the high cost of replacing lead pipes, financial assistance is crucial for many homeowners.
Halifax Water recently launched a program offering a 25 per cent rebate for replacing a lead service line, up to $2,500.
Utility spokesman James Campbell said the average cost to replace a private lead service line since the rebate was launched in
August 2017 has been $3,582, with an average rebate of $868.
But only 175 households have replaced a private lead service line since the rebate’s inception.
The utility — the largest in Atlantic Canada, with more than 84,000 customer connections — also has a loan program.
Homeowners willing to accept a lien on their property can get a loan for up to five years with an interest rate of prime plus two per cent — currently 5.95 per cent. Four homeowners have received the loan.
The slow uptake for both programs suggests that even with Halifax Water’s financial aid — among the most comprehensive in North America, according to the utility — the cost is still too great for some homeowners. Or, they’re unaware they have lead pipes.
When Mackay bought his home in north-end Halifax, he says, his inspector pointed out the lead pipes.
But some homeowners say they didn’t discover lead service lines until after they purchased their home.
The rules around disclosing lead pipes are murky.
Carolin Macdonald, compliance manager with the Nova Scotia Real Estate Commission, said sellers have a legal obligation to disclose “all known material latent defects” — faults with the property that “would not be discovered by a reasonably thorough building inspection.”
“I’m not able to say if lead pipes that are not visible but are present would constitute a material latent defect,” she said by email, adding that “it’s recommended the seller speaks with their lawyer.”
Meanwhile, financial assistance to replace lead pipes depends on where you live.
In Charlottetown, a city official said the utility has submitted a funding application to speed up its lead pipe replacement program, but currently offers no aid. Moncton offers a $250 grant, while Saint John does not offer any financial help.
Replacing aging lead pipes took on more urgency last spring after Health Canada set more stringent guidelines for lead in drinking water.
Citing the latest research, the federal department cut the acceptable concentration of the metal in half, to five micrograms per litre, or five parts per billion, down from 10 micrograms per litre.
The new standard could push some households above the allowable limit. It also raises questions about what more can be done to encourage the replacement of lead pipes or reduce the potential corrosion of lead pipes.
Halifax Water has been working closely with Dalhousie University’s Centre for Water Resources Studies, which focuses in part on lead in drinking water.
The partnership has helped the utility limit potential lead exposure, as well as develop sampling and monitoring programs.