Get rid of lead pipes, Thunder Bay officials urge

The city of Thunder Bay is ramping up an awareness campaign urging homeowners to get rid of lead water pipes.

When construction season begins in about a month, the environment division will send staff door-to-door in areas where the city is already repairing watermains.

Tony Santos, supervisor of the city's municipal drinking water licensing program, said they will visit houses likely to have lead pipes, which are generally found in homes built before 1952.

"We'll be looking for homeowners, hopefully, to replace the lead portion of their (water) service connection from the property line right into their home," he said. "With contractors being onsite [for the neighbourhood watermain work], that seems to be the best time for the homeowner to do it and probably get it done at a much reduced cost."

Santos said older pipes that carry water from the property's edge to the house, called service lines, are a common source of lead in drinking water.

"It comes from water sitting stagnant in a lead service line," he said.

Santos added that for years, the city has provided free water testing and if needed, encouraged residents to replace lead service lines and pipes with the now-standard copper variety.

But, he said, not enough people are doing that and he hopes in-person visits will help. 

"One of our environmental engineering technicians will be coming and speaking with each homeowner... about lead," he said. "When you have that personal touch, sometimes people will maybe understand the issues a little bit better and may be more receptive to actually making a change."

Cost can be a deterrent

But to make the change from lead to copper lines and pipes on their properties, homeowners must pay the construction and plumbing costs.  Marshall Farquharson, a supervisor at Nadin Contracting in Thunder Bay, said that is often a deterrent and the costs vary widely.  

"Every house is different and so it depends on what you're going to get into when you start digging around in the lot," he said.

"One thing's the length from the property line to the house. Some houses are 10 feet, some are 30 feet. So, I mean, and the price of copper these days, you know, that's expensive."

Generally, Farquharson said, homeowners can expect to pay between $800 and $2,000 to replace a lead service line on the property. If there are also lead pipes to be replaced inside the home, a plumber could charge between $500 and $1,500.

Santos said if homeowners with lead pipes choose not to replace them, they should at least install a filter on their taps. Alternatively, they can run their water for at least five minutes or until it runs cold.

But from a health perspective, he said, replacing the pipe is the best option.