NEWARK, NJ — Newark is embarking on a mandated public awareness campaign after 13 out of 116 water samples recently drawn by the city tested above the federal Safe Water Drinking Act action levels for lead, municipal officials announced Thursday.

The campaign does not mean that the city's water system contains unsafe levels of lead, city officials stated in a news release. Don't forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page here.

Newark officials offered the following explanation about the city's testing results: "Newark and all other cities are required by the federal Safe Water Drinking Act to monitor the level of certain substances including lead in their water supply systems. When water drawn from the taps of a minimum of 100 homes that have lead and copper service lines have lead levels greater than 15 parts per billion, a city must take certain steps." According to city officials:

"Regulations require that water to be tested for lead be taken at the first draw in the morning, i.e., when water has sat in pipes overnight and a tap is first turned on for the day. Since many older homes contain lead pipes that connect with the city's water system, samples drawn from those homes may have lead levels higher than 15 parts per billion. This was found to be the case in 13 samples drawn by the City of Newark from the 116 sampled locations of homes with lead service lines." Newark officials added: "The level of lead in the water samples taken in May and June has triggered a requirement to conduct a public information campaign while Newark continues to implement its program of identifying lead service lines. In the coming weeks, all water bill-paying customers will receive information in the mail about the effects of exposure to lead and how to minimize lead in the water. If a house is not one of the 116 locations sampled and the resident suspects that he/she may have a service line causing an elevated lead level, the resident may call the Department of Water and Sewer Utilities to request that the home be tested for lead." Newark officials did not provide information about what specific homes were among the sample locations in their Thursday news release.

For more information, call (973)733-6303 or email waterandsewer@ci.newark.nj.us.