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Tacoma water problem
Tacoma water problem
TACOMA, Wash. – Tacoma Water utility crews took another round of water samples Friday after learning that up to 1,700 of their customers could have high levels of lead in the drinking water.
A few days ago the utility found high lead levels in gooseneck pipes leading to four homes; on Friday, they also tested fixtures inside two of those homes.
One of those home's tests showed lead levels at more than 25 times greater than the Environmental Protection Agency’s threshold.
Andrea Burger’s home tested at the highest levels of lead so far, and she’s concerned for her 3-year-old son, Avery.
“He was tested yesterday for lead in his blood,” she said. “My husband and I will be tested today.”
Burger worries Avery could already have been exposed to dangerous levels of lead coming from the tap water.
“The effects are worse on children,” she said. “His brain is still developing and lead can be very dangerous to his development.”
Tacoma Water crews took multiple samples from inside Burger’s home Friday. Officials worry hundreds of other customers could also test positive for high levels of lead.
The culprit is an outdated pipe called a gooseneck, which is used to send water from the mainline to a customer’s meter.
Up to 1,700 other Tacoma Water customers could still have gooseneck pipes and still have toxic water being pumped into their homes.
But utility officials insist the problem is the pipe and not the water source.
“It (the water) comes from the Green River, it has no lead in it,” said Tacoma Water Deputy Superintendent Chris McMeen. “The issues are the plumbing materials that are ubiquitous, frankly, all across the country have lead in them.”
The EPA’s action alert triggers when lead is found in 15 parts per billion; but recent tests from gooseneck pipes leading to four homes in Tacoma showed some had as high as 100 parts per billion.
Burger’s tap water revealed nearly 400 parts per billion.
“Nobody else has even come close to that,” she said. “Not even close. “
Burger said Tacoma Water asked her family to not drink from her tap while they wait for new test results. Meanwhile the utility has been providing her family with cases of bottled water.
Sill, she’s anxious to see Avery’s blood tests to see if he is already showing signs of poisoning.
“Especially with him, I don’t want him having high levels of lead in his system,” she said. “That’s scary.”
Tacoma Water said it plans to send a letters out to all 1,700 customers who could still have a gooseneck pipe in the utility's water system. The utility said it plans on picking up the tab for those tests, too.