Columbus City Utilities will ask some customers to take water samples to test for lead after the utility replaces service lines in their area.
City utilities will replace service lines in four areas — on Eighth Street, Ninth Street, Jackson Street and Gladstone Avenue, said utilities Executive Director Scott Dompke. Customers in those areas will be notified by letter from the utility company.
About 150 customers are being notified in the following areas:
Eighth Street, from Lafayette Avenue to Cottage Avenue
Ninth Street, from Franklin Street to Lafayette Avenue
Jackson Street, from Eighth Street to 12th Street
Gladstone Avenue, from Indiana Avenue to McKinley Avenue
These areas, based on the age of pipes, may have service lines containing lead and galvanized steel. At a recent utilities board meeting, Dompke said that typically, the extent of lead material located on a service line is an 18-inch section called the “gooseneck.”
He and other officials emphasized that this service line replacement project is not the result of any health concern.
“This is not being done because there is a risk of lead contamination. This is being done as a project of maintenance,” said board member Clayton Force. “There is no health risk to our customers. There is no risk of lead contamination.”
Force added that the project is merely an “upgrade” of the current water system.
A month after the service lines have been replaced, customers will receive bottles for taking water samples, Force said. They will then give these samples to the utilities department, which will test the samples to make sure that there is no lead contamination.
According to the department’s 2019 drinking water quality report, the maximum contaminant level — that is, the highest level at which a contaminant is permitted in public drinking water — for lead is 0.015. For 2019, both of the city’s plants were well below this level, with 0.008 for the Lincoln Park plant and less than 0.001 for the Spear Street Plant.
Dompke said that the utilities department will be replacing all surfaces on the service lines, as lead isn’t the only material that can be potentially harmful — galvanized steel is also a concern.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “Lead particles can attach to the surface of galvanized pipes. Over time, the particles can enter your drinking water, causing elevated lead levels.”
Dompke stated that, “The disruption on the surface line itself, whether it’s lead or galvanized, can release lead.”
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While only 150 customers will be impacted by this current replacement project, expect similar projects in the future. According to Dompke, it was estimated that, as of 2016, about 1600 people in Columbus were serviced by lead pipes.
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