Thunder Bay residents opt to not change their lead water pipes to copper

The operations supervisor at Thunder Bay's Bare Point water treatment plant says more than a quarter of city homes that have been tested for lead show unsafe levels of the mineral.

City crews have tested about 1,300 home since 2007, Erin Marcella-Fui said.

The presence of lead over 10 parts-per billion is considered unsafe.

"Some can be just slightly over, and then the highest we've seen is maybe in the hundreds, but that's rare," she said.

The contamination comes from old water lines, which run to the main line, from the home. There are about 8,000 homes known to have lead-service pipes.

Private property issue

In 2007, the province mandated that cities offer the testing to homeowners.

"We'll do more of our campaigning and mail-outs, targeting those homeowners, encouraging them to have us come in and at least test the water," Marcella-Fui said.

"It's private property, and we can't force people to have us come in. So if they want us in, we'll come test, and they can decide what they want to do from there."

Because those water lines are on private property, homeowners foot the bill to replace them.

The city reports it's been encouraging people to replace their service lines, usually in conjunction with water main work on their street.  The cost, which is borne by the homeowner, can be prohibitive, Marcella-Fui noted.

The city can't force homeowners to upgrade the connections on private property to newer copper piping.

However, the Ministry of the Environment, has mandated the city put something in place that will limit the amount of lead that leaches into the water. So a pilot project is underway in Current River to add sodium hydroxide to the water to adjust its chemistry.

As for why the city is piloting the sodium hydroxide project now, years after 2007, when the province started its crackdown on lead in 2007, Marcella-Fui said the city was hoping the sodium hydroxide project would be a last resort. She said the city was hopeful more people would replace their lead lines.

"We just haven't had a great deal of response to that."

Run tap water to reduce lead levels

Some residents in the area have spoken out against the plan to add sodium hydroxide to the water.

But city staff said the next phase of the project will start this week and, if it is successful, sodium hydroxide will be introduced to tap water, city-wide, in 2017.

A senior public health inspector with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit told CBC News said running a faucet can often bring lead levels down.

"A good rule of thumb is to flush until the water gets cold, so the idea is to get out all the water that was in the plumbing of the home and the service line as well," Abby Mackie said.

Since testing began in 2007, public health officials have not received any reports of people falling ill, he noted.

However, lead poisoning is not a reportable illness, which means it's up to health care providers to alert the health unit.

Mackie said children under the age of six, as well as pregnant and nursing mothers, are most at risk.

"I guess the only way that people can be sure that they haven't been exposed to high levels of lead would be to talk to their doctor and get some testing done," he said.

Mackie confirmed that the city's project to add sodium hydroxide to the water is safe.