Amid statewide and national concerns about lead contamination, Akron city officials posted an interactive map online Monday showing the location of pipes with lead that carry drinking water.
“In light of the situations in Flint, Mich., and other communities, I wanted the Akron public to know that regardless of whether or not their property is served by a lead pipe service, regular tests prove that their drinking water is clean and safe, far exceeding all Environmental Protection Agency requirements,” Mayor Dan Horrigan said.
The Beacon Journal first requested this information more than a year ago, attempting to “act swiftly in facilitating reasoned discussion on this matter” in light of recent high profile cases Michigan and Sebring, Ohio. The city denied that request, citing concerns about how publicizing potential lead contamination could drive down property values. The Beacon Journal has adjusted and submitted more requests over the past year.
The information posted Monday, available at akronohio.gov/water and made available to the Beacon Journal hours before it went live to the public, shows 4,341 blue dots on an interactive map of 85,211 active service pipes. These dots, which when clicked give specific addresses, indicate “lead service mains,” or points of potential contamination.
The map shows clusters of blue specs virtually everywhere, except in Kenmore, Ellet and areas where streets and sidewalks have been torn up in the past half century, giving the city the opportunity to upgrade to copper piping. Chris Ludle, deputy service director for the city, said Kenmore and Ellet may have been built up during World War II when lead was scarce.
The city stressed that the problem, compared to other cities, is small — noting that only 5 percent of water customers may be affected.
The lead pipes are continually replaced through regular maintenance.
“Whenever a street or sidewalk is being repaired or other work is being done, we make it a priority to replace any lead pipe services in the area,” said John Moore, director of Public Service. “On average, we replace three to five lead services every week.”
At that rate, it would take between 17 and 28 years to rid the city of all suspected lead pipes, though their need for maintenance could accelerate as durability decreases with age.
The current combined sewer and water project is speeding up this process. In Middlebury, some 40 customers soon will see their lead pipes replaced with copper while the city already has the street dug up to fix or replace sewers.
The city picks up the tab to replace the lead pipes.
Last year, 140 units with lead piping were replaced at an average cost of $1,500 a piece, which included tearing up the road, fitting the new copper pipe and repairing the sidewalk or roadway. “We’re trying to leverage everything that we can to [accelerate replacements]. And we have been very proactive since the ‘50s, which you can see by the very small number of services having lead,” Ludle said.
Horrigan and his staff explained that lead piping does not necessarily equate to dangerous levels of lead in drinking water. In addition, the city has for three decades mixed its water supply with a special corrosion inhibitor called “zinc orthophosphate,” which would mitigate the shedding of lead into the water.
“I am proud to say that only a small percentage of lead services remain in our city, and those that do are fully and carefully treated to prevent any dangerous contamination,” Horrigan said. “We work every day to protect the health and safety of our residents and their families, and we are pleased to continue our long history of providing safe, reliable drinking water to our customers.”
In March, the city sent its first mass mailing of letters to all water customers suspected of having lead piping. City service providers explained that testing can be done at no direct cost to the customer. For more information or to request a test, call 330-375-2311 or 3-1-1.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @ABJDoug .