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Bordentown City officials shift focus of reported lead exceedances to inside the home

Bordentown City Commissioner Joe Myers discusses the issue of lead in homeowners' drinking water at a July 24 public hearing hosted at the Carslake Community Center. Photo by Thomas Wiedmann

As the Bordentown City municipality works to address the concern of lead exceedances found in multiple homeowners’ drinking water throughout the area, city officials are beginning to shift focus to linking the issue with interior plumbing.

When the Bordentown City Board of Commissioners held a July 24 public hearing at the Carslake Community Center to discuss the ongoing matter of lead exceedances reported in some residents’ drinking water, the city officials said the matter could potentially arise from inside the home.

“Nothing is more important to the Bordentown City Board of Commissioners than the health and safety of the citizens we serve,” said City Commissioner Joe Myers. “The City Water Department is committed to a comprehensive data-driven approach. Simultaneously, we are committed to an open and transparent communication process and we will continue to provide updates through our website, mailings, social media and public forums like tonight.

“While we have a lot of work to still do, I would like to report that we have made progress,” Myers explained.

Officials said the meeting was aimed to educate attendees on the testing of their drinking water for lead and what they could do to limit exposure to internal plumbing issues affecting the water.

To date, Myers said the municipality has collected 559 total water samples. A map to display the locations where water samples were tested was present at the meeting, which included results from the Department of Environmental Protection mandated sampling plan as well as the city’s voluntary effort to offer all residents a free water sample.

These sample collections come after the city undertook an extensive sampling of the city’s water source in 2018. Working with the state, the city said it developed a sampling plan that included several draws taken in increments from its source.

“All total, over a dozen samples were collected,” Myers said.

City officials reported that one set of the dozen samples was submitted to one lab and a second set of the same samples were sent to a different lab. The reason for sending the same samples to two different labs was to eliminate any irregularities with the testing procedures, according to the municipality.

Myers said that all samples from both labs came back “in strict compliance to the state standards and limits, and found to be significantly below the action level with numerous results below the detectable limit.”

Previous tests for lead exceedances at the city’s water source and water treatment facility have also reported “to be significantly below the action level” in compliance with the state’s standards and limits.

Since the municipality’s last informative meeting in January regarding this matter, Myers said that the data collected earlier this year has focused on tests performed in homes and on public services.

“We are working with homeowners who have encountered a lead exceedance in the undertaking of additional testing of either a flush sample and/or at the water meter located in the home,” Myers said. “If an exceedance is experienced here, then the city has started working with the homeowner to dig up the service lines in the street to see if there are any lead service lines.

“It is our belief that this additional testing will aid in determining the source of the lead in the water and if the problem lies within the internal plumbing of the home or outside the home,” he added.

Officials said at the July meeting that municipality has performed test digs near the curbside of several homes that experienced a recent lead exceedance in its water. The intent of these curbside digs is to visually inspect the services going to and from the home, and the inspection is done on public property, according to officials.

So far, Myers said the water department has dug up 29 services nears homes with a reported exceedance, but in each instance, there were no lead service lines reported. All services uncovered have been plastic or copper, according to officials.

The municipality said it also tested the water at the interconnection point between Fieldsboro and the city, but the test results reported no exceedance.

“This is preliminarily good news,” the city commissioner said.

Recently, Myers said additional tests performed on 10 hydrants throughout its distribution system, which included locations with nearby homes that reported exceedances the levels were found “below the action level” for lead.

“We have tested the source and there is no problem,” he said. “We have tested 40 various locations throughout the distribution system, including in locations close to or nearby homes with an exceedance, and there were no lead service lines and no exceedances in the sampling. The 40 locations include the interconnections, hydrants and curb digs.”

As testing for potential lead exceedances inside homes have been performed by the municipality, officials said their data reported 75% of homes that experienced an exceedance had lead solder in their interior plumbing, which presents a potential issue for residents with homes built before 1988.

In homes built before 1988, lead piping and lead solder were commonly used in household plumbing systems as well as in service lines that connect homes to street water mains. In 1986, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the use of lead pipes and lead solder in plumbing systems because excessive lead levels can present dangerous health risks.

The EPA set an “action level” of .015 milligrams per liter of water for lead. EPA officials said that levels higher than that in water could pose a risk to human health.

Although one resident spoke out at the meeting and reported that their home experienced an exceedance, a city professional who performed the test said that this homeowner also had lead solder in their plumbing.

Following the public comment, city official said that while they perform additional testing and data collection, a water filtration system is recommended to be installed on homeowners’ kitchen sink taps to mitigate the presence of lead in their drinking water if they experienced an exceedance. These homeowners are also welcomed for additional testing to be performed by the city.

For residents with questions and concerns with their water, city officials encourage residents to contact Myers at 609-556-7837.

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