Making water safe from street to tap
Pittsburgh’s lead filter program must be a coordinated community process
The city of Pittsburgh, Peoples Gas and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority should be commended for their collaborative effort to bring water filters to Pittsburgh residents and develop long-term strategies to protect them from lead exposure in water. The science is clear; lead is a neurotoxin that negatively affects human organs and systems and especially harms fetuses and young children. As strategies are being developed to tackle this lead crisis, that science must drive decision-making. Thoughtful planning and implementation of these programs are critical to ensure the utmost protection of public health.
Under the Lead and Copper Rule, water authorities are required to act when their systemwide sampling exceeds 15 parts per billion of lead in more than 10 percent of the small number of homes in their sampling pool. The Environmental Protection Agency-recommended, nonenforceable action level for schools and child care centers is 20 ppb. The city just announced it would give priority to residents whose single-draw sample indicates a level higher than 10 ppb. These differing numbers are confusing to the public. It is important to know that these numbers are not linked to any health protection standard.
If a resident’s lead testing indicates 8 ppb or 12 ppb, they should not, and must not, conclude that they are “safe” from lead in water. In fact, no amount of lead exposure is safe. There is great variability with testing; a first draw (filling a 1-liter bottle first thing in the morning) may indicate 5 ppb one morning and 50 ppb the next day. The best way to determine whether you have lead in your water is to find out if you have lead pipes or interior lead plumbing (including solder and fixtures) present.
Women for a Healthy Environment works to protect immediately those most at risk. Our organization has been working in schools and early learning centers for the last year, helping personnel test for lead in water. WHE has been working with community partners to develop a thoughtful filter program to protect those most vulnerable — pregnant women and children (especially those being bottle-fed). Recently, several hundred filters were delivered to our office for distribution to family programs in the city. We thought it would be useful to share a few insights and lessons learned in our own work and through conversations with colleagues in Flint, Mich., Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and elsewhere.
Developing a faucet filter program for Pittsburgh must be a coordinated process and involve the entire community. Every sector’s voice must have a seat at the table — health professionals, government personnel, nonprofits, community groups, faith-based leaders, children advocates and school officials, just to name a few.
City officials indicated they will have personnel assigned to ensure proper installation of the filters in homes. This is essential to minimize the confusion that homeowners are finding with the installation instructions. Most homeowners are not professionally trained plumbers, and directions are often not followed. For instance, running hot water through a faucet filter damages the unit.
If the city purchases a filter system that costs $35, the $1 million initiative will reach 28,571 households, give or take a few. With approximately 80,000 PWSA customers in the city, there will be a filter shortfall. Pregnant women and children are most at risk from lead in water exposure, and priority must be given to these households first.
A point-of-use water treatment system is essential, regardless of whether the building is a home, school or child care center, because these systems are installed to reduce contaminants in the drinking water at one tap. Lead plumbing fixtures and fittings made of brass were often as much as 20 percent lead by weight, and until 2014 brass faucets advertised as lead-free could contain up to 8 percent lead by weight. There is the potential of lead present all along the water’s path, from street to faucet. Depending on the level of lead present, a filter cartridge could last a week, several weeks or several months. It would be shortsighted for this filter program to be a “one-time use” initiative. Rather, Pittsburgh residents who simply cannot afford replacement cartridges must be assisted.
A reminder system for residents to change their filters would be helpful. An educational program to help residents properly learn how to use the system is essential. These appliances work just like your furnace; if you don’t change the filter cartridge, it will not perform its function.
More testing must occur quickly, be coordinated with community groups and be practical in ease of use and access. Approximately 6,000 residents have requested lead testing kits from the PWSA. Some kits haven’t been processed, but many of those kits haven’t been returned to the lab. We encourage all residents to request and submit a kit. A result of 1 ppb or greater indicates a presence of lead, and a filter should be requested. Once filters are in place, residents should request additional testing to ensure their effectiveness.
We are encouraged by the communications we have had with all those involved in the lead crisis. These first steps are important, but just the beginning of a long process to fix problems that have been with us since the late 1800s. We look forward to the continued collaboration and long-term solutions of removing the lead service lines within our city limits and beyond.