City provides "Clarifying Statement" after national media coverage on topic of lead in the home water of some city residents

It took the better part of the day to craft a reply to this mornings report on lead in the water of some Prince Rupert homes from Global News and its partners; but by 5:00 this afternoon the team at City Hall had come up with their message for the day to the community.

One which in effect cast some caution towards some elements of the Global News study, followed by reminders to flush your pipes, a look at some of the steps the city has taken on testing, along with an opportunity to make another mention for the city's long range water plans.

Earlier today we outlined the findings of the the Global News project, which you can review here.

The city's late afternoon notes came through both the Civic Website and their Social media options, with versions delivered both to the City's Facebook page, as well as on the Mayor's own political portal.

The update starts with a civic declaration of sorts ...

The City would like to proactively address the media attention that Prince Rupert has received regarding lead leaching into water from home plumbing. The City of Prince Rupert and Northern Health are aware of the issue of lead and copper leaching from home plumbing, which is why we sent out a joint flushing notice to residents last year and have recently done further outreach following our own testing program that collected data from 65 households.

Unlike some other communities mentioned, Prince Rupert does not have lead service lines, which can be a contributing factor to lead content in drinking water. The water provided to homes in Prince Rupert does not have lead in the source water but instead it leaches from home plumbing when it sits overnight.

From that point, much of the statement retraces some of the past themes and missives of the last year from the City and Mayor on the topic of the water, with a reminder to flush our taps for one or two minutes in the morning prior to use to move the water that has been standing overnight, or for any extended period of time.

In their presentation the City observes how they are currently in the process of secondary testing, though no indication is provided today, as to whether they plan to provide a report to the community based on their various rounds of testing to provide a wider overview of the situation.

We are currently in the process of secondary testing, but early results indicate that flushing is an effective way of significantly reducing lead levels.

The City does seem to take some exception to the nature of the water study from Global and its partners and how they collected their samples and at what time of the day.

It should be noted that the samples used in the reporting were taken in the morning on the ‘first flush’ from the tap, after the water was left to sit overnight, and are ‘worst case’ results. These levels are not representative of the water being drawn through the tap throughout the day once stagnant water has cleared. 

Provincial Health Guidelines state clearly that “first flush” data is not representative of the level of lead exposure throughout the day. Instead, the Maximum Acceptable Concentration (which was recently lowered to a level of 0.05 mg/L) is supposed to be based on an average of samples collected throughout the day.

By comparison, the City observes how its own studies with Northern Health have delivered results well below Federal and Provincial standards, providing a link where results are made available.

The Northern Health testing can be found here.

The City also notes that when their own testing did provide for results that required additional public  messaging they took the steps required, though again noting some of the state of the housing stock in the city that could be at issue.

All that being said, when our own test results were received, the higher proportion of homes with noted issues highlighted the need for additional public messaging, and in August another notice was posted, and a video made available on the City’s social media platforms and Youtube channel. 

Due to the prevalence of lead in home plumbing solder prior to 1989 (and lead content in fixtures further reduced in 2012), combined with the age of Prince Rupert’s housing stock, it is possible that many homes throughout the community may have some level of exposure to lead through home plumbing.

The remainder of the city's statement retraces many of the past messages on what they hope to achieve with the third stage of their water treatment plan and how it may address some of the current issues facing the city's supply of water.

As for advice for those that may have concerns at the moment, the  City outlines a few options for residents to address around their own homes towards any potential issues of lead in their home water.

We encourage people where possible to consider replacing all plumbing components containing lead, or to continue to conduct regular flushing until such time as replacement is feasible. 

Alternatively, you can pick up a lead filtration system from the local hardware store. Filters should state that they are certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 or 58 for lead reduction.

Global News did note in their story that they had attempted to interview the Mayor in relation to their report, but that an interview request had been declined, something the statement from the City did not address today.

The full statement from City Hall is available from the City website,  a version with an accompanying video on the topic can be reviewed here.

For more items of note related to City Council themes, see our archive page here.