Crews make repairs to a frozen water line in Medicine Hat in this March 2019 file photo. The province will require all municipalities to begin testing drinking water as it comes from the tap as a way to correct lead content produced by household pipes and fixtures, the News has learned.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
The News has learned that the province will require all municipal water departments to test for lead in drinking water by the fall of 2021, including potential problems caused by privately owned fixtures and household plumbing.
Alberta Environment and Parks announced the requirements on Nov. 12 in a bulletin to cities. That came about one week after a national study by media companies and university researchers found high levels of the toxic heavy metal in drinking water across the country.
The issue arose Monday at the town council meeting in Redcliff, which operates its own water utility. Documents estimate up to $500,000 per year in new capital expense to correct any problems found during a $70,000 study of water quality throughout the town.
City officials say they have closely monitored infrastructure for more than 40 years since lead pipes were banned under the national building code. They have found no general problem with the water they provide from the treatment plant of an underground piping system.
However, new rules by the Alberta ministry makes water utilities responsible to test water that could be contaminated between city-owned pipes and the customer’s tap.
Medicine Hat officials told the News on Monday that work is just starting on protocols to asses water by a September 2021 deadline. Those could prioritize testing in areas of the city built when lead pipes of fixtures were common use. It would then be evaluated and potentially expanded. Remediation work would need to be complete by 2024.
“We would target areas were we believe lead would most likely be present,” said Lora Brenan, general manager of the environmental utilities department, citing homes or communities constructed during or after the Second World War era, when copper was a premium material and lead was a common substitute.
As well, officials have stated, homes from the very early 20th century can feature lead solder, or older fixtures, but even newer metal fixtures can potentially leach lead or other harmful metals.
“If we tested the water in the distribution system going into an area, like the (far) south in Medicine Hat, where we know it’s all relatively new construction, that might suffice,” said Brenan.
She said there’s a need to balance cost, as well as timing.
Redcliff administrators state that testing of its system, from river intake to household taps, could require $75,000 for program development, then an additional $500,000 for testing throughout the town of 5,000 residents. Initial money would be found in water infrastructure reserve funds.
Medicine Hat’s system delivers water to about 23,000 residences and about another 4,000 businesses, facilities and other buildings.
Only two weeks after the regulations were announced, there’s no estimate yet about cost to Medicine Hat ratepayers.
“It’s a lot of work and the testing is not inexpensive,”said Brenan. “We’ll have to decide on the program and determine the impact on the department’s budget.”
New utility rate adjustments for 2020 in Medicine Hat are prepared to be unveiled at city council’s Dec. 2 meeting. Those likely will not yet include funding for the testing program.
The News reported on the issue on Nov. 6, when treatment plant managers said they consider the city-owned distribution system to be safe, but they were aware of about 50 service connections that were discovered during street work to replace major lines.
Homeowners were informed of the presence of a lead service connection and the recommendation to replace them, but it’s not known if corrective action was taken.
In Redcliff, a note from administrators informed councillors that the scope of the potential problem is not known. There are few records detailing construction methods or materials in the town.
The water from the South Saskatchewan River is considered to have a naturally low level of lead content. The water leaving the municipal treatment plant along with water at random locations is also tested four times each year.
However, problems could occur as metal leaches out of solder, fittings of pipes and fixtures, including brass and other models, within a home or on the service connection that joins a home to the street main. Ownership of such lines are is considered to be the homeowner past the curb stop at the property line.
