Everett isn’t Flint, far from it. Still, coverage of the Michigan city’s lead-in-the-water disaster reminds me of a time, more than 20 years ago, when lead testing was a hot topic here.
It was 1992. Everett was testing tap water in homes to comply with new federal Environmental Protection Agency rules. In 1986, amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act brought updated regulations. They included new monitoring of certain substances, and restrictions on lead in solder and plumbing.
“We still do that,” Marla Carter, spokeswoman for the Everett Public Works Department, said of residential water testing. It doesn’t happen annually, but testing of water from 125 Everett homes was done in 2015, and before that in 2012, Carter said Monday.
The EPA’s action level for lead is 15 parts per billion. According to The Detroit Free Press, lead levels in Flint after its supply was switched from Lake Huron’s treated water to the Flint River were as high as 2,516 parts per billion. Made to save money, the switch has been reversed. Levels of highly toxic lead are falling in Flint’s water, the Free Press reported Sunday.
What about Everett’s water? It comes from Spada Lake Reservoir, at the headwaters of the Sultan River. The city’s water system supplies 80 percent of Snohomish County, including the Alderwood Water District in south county. Lead in our water comes from plumbing, not the source.
“Many samples test at zero,” Carter said. The highest lead level found in the most recent home testing was 8 parts per billion. At the 90th percentile of homes tested, the level was 2 parts per billion.
That’s good news as Flint’s disaster continues to grab headlines. Lead is most dangerous to young children. It can cause learning and behavior problems, slow growth, and affect physical health. It can also cause premature births.
The Flint crisis reminds me why I always run the water before taking a drink. My tap-running habit dates to The Herald’s 1992 coverage of local lead testing.
In October 1992, after lead tests were conducted in Everett, public works officials shared these tips:
Flush pipes by not drinking the first water out of the tap in the morning, or after water has been standing in a fixture for several hours. Don’t drink water from a hot tap, as hot water carries more lead. And if using infant formula, mix it with cold water and heat it once it’s made.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that in homes where testing shows lead levels higher than 15 parts per billion, people should run the cold tap for at least a minute or two before drinking.
Carter said Everett’s home testing involves running the tap, then letting it sit for a minimum of six hours, and taking the sample from the first water out of the tap.
In March of 1992, to comply with new EPA requirements, Everett Public Works sent letters to people in the Harborview-Seahurst neighborhood asking them to take part in home drinking-water tests. The testing targeted lead from copper pipes, particularly those with tin-lead soldered joints, according to articles by then-Herald writer Jim Haley.
Solder containing lead was effectively banned from use in drinking water systems in 1986. The Harborview-Seahurst area raised concern because many homes there were built in the early 1980s — before the changes in rules — using tin-lead solder and perhaps fixtures containing lead.
Much older homes often have plumbing with a corrosion built up through the years. Carter said that coating helps keep lead from leaching into drinking water.
During those initial 1992 tests, 19 of 68 samples in Everett showed lead levels of at least 15 parts per billion. In 2015, no local sample tested that high — a big improvement in 20-plus years.
One way the system makes changes is by adjusting levels of soda ash (sodium carbonate) added to water as corrosion treatment, Carter said. Plumbing regulations have helped, too.
How often do we hear gripes about federal regulations or government spending? Take a hard look at Flint. A whole generation there may suffer from reckless budget-cutting.
I haven’t had the water in my 1909 house tested for lead. I should. In the meantime, I run the tap before I drink.
“I do it, too,” Carter said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Learn more
The Everett Public Works Department’s latest Drinking Water Quality Report is online at: https://everettwa.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/315
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