Aging U.S. water systems pose lead risk

Cities nationwide risk problems similar to the lead found in the Washington area’s water supply unless they replace old pipelines, according to water-purification experts.

The nation’s aging infrastructure is leaching lead from pipes in old buildings into municipal water supplies, creating a health hazard that is difficult for government to eliminate, said Ralph McCarter, spokesman for the National Rural Water Association.

“If you go into an old house, it’s impractical to take the old piping out of the walls,” Mr. McCarter said. “Who wants to tear up their kitchen or basement to take the pipes out of the walls? The cost of doing that is really prohibitive.”

He is scheduled to testify today before the House Transportation and Infrastructure water resources and environment subcommittee during a hearing on water infrastructure.

A 1999 Environmental Protection Agency survey estimated the nation’s drinking-water systems need repairs and upgrades of $150 billion over 20 years.

Nevertheless, EPA officials say the nation’s water systems are safe.

“High lead levels are not a pervasive problem,” said Cathy Milbourn, EPA spokeswoman.

All but about 3 percent of public pipelines containing lead have been replaced with nontoxic materials, according to the American Water Works Association, a water-treatment industry scientific and educationalgroup.

Pipes with lead solder on the fittings were banned by the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act.

Nevertheless, some buildings built before 1986 are leaking lead into water systems as they age.

“Unfortunately, Washington, D.C., does not have a corner on that market,” Mr. McCarter said.

Resulting health problems can include brain damage, high blood pressure and risk of miscarriage, according to some scientific reports.

Pregnant women and children age 6 and younger are the only populations at risk from lead in the District’s drinking water, Dr. Thomas Calhoun, the D.C. Health Department’s Emergency Health and Medical Services medical director, said last month.

Jerry N. Johnson, general manager of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), described the cost to repair the nation’s water systems as “enormous” in testimony he prepared to deliver to Congress today.

WASA would need to spend $300 million to $350 million to replace its pipelines containing lead, he said. It would cost D.C. residents $6 to $7 a month, he told the D.C. Council in February.

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