Pipes Pollute Drinking Water Mining Waste Isn’T Source Of Toxic Lead In Silver Valley Homes

Mary Wieman goes through lots of tea kettles. She just threw out the latest, blackened on the bottom by metallic residue.

Wieman has lead in her water.

But the potentially toxic metal isn’t coming from the ground, despite the ongoing fury over heavy metals from mining waste in the Silver Valley.

It’s coming from her plumbing. And it’s much easier to remove.

Like many rural water districts around the United States, the 2,800 households hooked up to the Central Shoshone Water District run good water through old pipes.

A new well at Enaville pumps out clean water, district manager Mac Pooler said. Most likely, lead is coming off brass faucets, old galvanized residential pipe or lead solder on private lines.

Not all homes have a problem.

“We sample throughout the system,” Pooler said. “You can get it in one house and go next door and not get it at all.”

But those that do have problems can do something about it.

Health officials suggest either buying a water filter or letting water run for at least three minutes in the morning or whenever water pools up in the pipes for more than six hours.

“If people are concerned, they should test their water, see what it shows,” said Steve Tanner, with Idaho Division of Environmental Quality. “If it does show high lead levels, flush your taps.”

Tests for lead cost $15 to $20. Lead can affect the central nervous system, lead to high blood pressure in adults, and is especially dangerous for pregnant women and young children.

Idaho requires water districts to test for metals in a certain number of households every year.

Wieman tested her water when she saw the water quality deteriorate in her sink; DEQ paid for a second round of tests. Along with high levels of iron, the tests showed lead at 20 to 21 parts per billion. The national safe drinking water standard is 15 parts per billion.

But lead levels dropped to near nothing after several minutes, officials said.

Wieman said such an easy solution should motivate people to test their water.

“So many people who do drink water right out of the tap, they’ve got arthritis, heart conditions, diabetes,” she said. “I can’t help but think that lead content in drinking water probably worsens any condition they have.”

Jerry Cobb, with the Panhandle Health District in Kellogg, emphasized a common sense approach.

The national health standard is a conservative number, Cobb said. “I don’t think someone with a 15 or 20 level needs to panic,” he said. “They need to find out what’s going on and then they need to do something about it.”

Water - especially soft, acidic water - corrodes the metals off the pipes. Instead of replacing pipes, the easiest way to limit metals is cut back on corrosion via chemical treatment.

As required by state water quality laws, the district sampled 20 households early this year. The district met state standards for the percentage of homes with lead at or below 15 ppb for lead, Pooler said. Wieman’s home was not one of the 20 tested.

If more than 10 percent of the sampled water supplies get lead hits above 15, the district becomes responsible.

That’s what happened nearby, at the 800-household Pinehurst Water District.

When high copper levels and some high lead levels showed up in water samples, the state required Pinehurst to treat its water against corrosion.

A $30,000 annual bill comes with the zinc orthophosphate to form a coating inside service lines to homes, and caustic soda to boost pH.

It’s unclear what effect switching to Enaville well water will have on the Central Shoshone’s system, Tanner said.

Until last January, the district got its water from Big Creek. If the Enaville water causes more lead to pull off pipes, the Shoshone district will have to inform users of problems with the metal and start corrosion control.

Pooler said the district is in the midst of a round of testing.

“We’ll address that as we go along,” he said.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT TO DO Lead levels If water is high in lead, health officials suggest either buying a water filter or letting water run for at least three minutes in the morning or whenever water pools up in the pipes for more than six hours.