Sharon Coolidge, and Carrie Blackmore Smith

Cincinnati

A conversation between a Cincinnati councilman and the newly appointed director of Greater Cincinnati Water Works has forced to the forefront questions about whether dangerous levels of lead may be flowing from water taps across the city.

Councilman Christopher Smitherman asked Wednesday that the water delivered to more than 16,000 properties – roughly 7 percent of the city’s drinking water system – be tested because it may run through lead pipes.

He acted after hearing of the existence of the lead pipes in the system from water works Director Cathy Bailey, who became leader of the department in September.

The two were talking about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, where 90,000 residents have been exposed in recent years to dangerous levels of lead in their water.

“The city has a moral obligation to identify each residence by address that has the risk of having pipes that could be malfunctioning,” Smitherman said. “This is about protecting children. It’s about protecting families.”

If tainted water is found, he said, then the pipes should be replaced, an endeavor city officials estimate to cost $82 million.

The city has a list of 16,572 properties that could have the lead pipes, water works officials said.

They exist in all 52 city neighborhoods, poor and affluent alike, ranging from Avondale to Hyde Park.

Bailey said if she lived in an area where the tap water may be affected, “I would say, ‘Could you test my water?’

“I would also have a comfort level in what the utility is saying, which is that the water is safe.”

What Smitherman is proposing could be a costly and time-consuming endeavor, one water works officials don’t plan to take action on immediately, Bailey said.

Confounding the issue is the city is responsible for city-owned pipes, while some are on private property.

Lead in tap water has become a hot topic since it became known that the people of Flint were being poisoned by lead-laced water. Officials appointed by the state had changed the source of the city’s water to cut costs.

There are distinctions between what happened in Flint and what the councilman fears could be happening here, for certain. The underlying concern is essentially the same: protecting citizens and especially children from the hazards of lead pipes, which exist in many of America’s water utility systems. Exposure to lead can cause brain damage and other health issues.

Cincinnati’s water dilemma

Smitherman’s impending motion, which will be discussed Monday at council’s Law and Public Safety Committee meeting, prompted verbal responses from others in city government Wednesday.

City Manager Harry Black issued a memo to council, stating that “the safety of drinking water is Greater Cincinnati Water Works’ highest priority.”

“The water situation in Flint does not exist in Cincinnati,” Black wrote.

In Flint, the water was not being effectively treated for lead.

Ongoing monitoring shows that more than 95 percent of the homes tested in Cincinnati have no or very low levels of lead, he wrote.

The water department has “always met or exceeded all of the state and federal health standards for drinking water,” the city manager wrote, conceding that lead pipes are an “ever present risk.”

It’s a challenge not uncommon in America, water works officials said. Almost every water distribution system in the country was constructed, at least in part, with lead piping.

Just last month, a recommendation to remove all lead pipes across the country was submitted by the National Drinking Water Advisory Committee to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Jeff Swertfeger, assistant superintendent at Greater Cincinnati Water Works.

The EPA has yet to decide whether it will make the recommendation a rule.

In Cincinnati, Smitherman said the city has a responsibility to inform residents that their water may be tainted.

Lead pipes banned in 1927

All water utilities are required to follow a lead corrosive control treatment plan. Records show that Cincinnati has been doing that in some form since 1907, Swertfeger said.

When water leaves the treatment facility on Kellogg Avenue, in the Cincinnati neighborhood of California, it contains no lead, Swertfeger said. The lead comes into the water from the lead pipes.

“The water industry has always known that you need to do something to make sure the water is not corroding the pipes,” Swertfeger said. “Water is called the universal solvent because it dissolves everything, especially metals.”

The federal government banned the use of lead pipes in 1986, and then required water utilities to create lead corrosion control plans starting in the early 1990s, Swertfeger said.

There isn’t as much lead piping in Cincinnati as some other cities, Swertfeger said, because the city banned their usage in 1927.

“Chicago was putting in lead pipes until 1986,” Swertfeger said.

Lead corrosion control requires adding chemicals to the water that will collect along the walls of a lead pipe, or any pipe for that matter, and reduce corrosion.

Cincinnati chooses to do that by raising the water’s pH level with lime and sodium hydroxide and adding chlorine, Swertfeger said.

It has proven to reduce the amount of lead that leaches out of the pipes better than other treatments used in the industry, he said.

To check for dangers, 100 homes are tested every six months in the Greater Cincinnati Water Works system, Swertfeger said. The utility routinely meets standards set by the EPA, he said.

The monitoring focuses on areas they assume have a greater threat for lead.

Last year, 36 requests to test water came in. Of those, one residence tested above what is considered safe.

What next?

Right now water works is operating “status quo,” spokeswoman Stephanni Cohen said.

Bailey, the director, said the department is having conversations in-house about what to do, but has not yet come to a conclusion.

Swapping out all of the lead pipes would be expensive, estimated to cost about $5,000 per property, a cost that would likely be shared between the homeowner and the city.

Many of the pipes are on private property and are the responsibility of the property owner, as is standard in most parts of the country.

Together, the price tag is estimated at $82 million. If the cost is shared, it could mean $41 million for a city facing a $14 million deficit for fiscal year 2017.

Councilman Chris Seelbach said he will ask the administration for a report on Greater Cincinnati Water Works’ compliance with all state and federal requirements.

Smitherman said the issue is a vital one for citizens.

“I want to make sure lead is not leaking into our water,” Smitherman said. “I don’t want to create panic, but residents need to know.”

Have a concern?

Anyone with concerns about the impact of lead pipes on their health should call Greater Cincinnati Water Works at 513-591-7700. The department will provide a test kit and then test the water.