{"id":5453,"date":"2016-07-25T13:28:12","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T18:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/?p=5453"},"modified":"2016-07-25T13:58:26","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T18:58:26","slug":"mapping-lead-service-lines-dc-water-offers-a-model-for-utilities-across-the-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/2016\/07\/25\/mapping-lead-service-lines-dc-water-offers-a-model-for-utilities-across-the-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping lead service lines: DC Water offers a model for utilities across the nation"},"content":{"rendered":"

[pullquote]Washington, DC\u2019s water utility launched a helpful interactive map<\/a> allowing residents to see whether water pipes are lead, non-lead, or if there\u2019s no available information for nearly every building and public water source across DC \u2013 including residences, restaurants, retailers, schools, drinking water fountains, and even the White House and Smithsonian.<\/p>\n

[\/pullquote]<\/p>\n

Lindsay McCormick <\/em><\/a>is a Research Analyst.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I moved to Washington, DC four years ago the phrase \u201clead service lines\u201d did not roll off my tongue. That began to change as I became aware of DC\u2019s historical lead problems \u2013 and dramatically so in the wake of the crisis in Flint, Michigan.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m not alone.\u00a0 Even though experts estimate that up to 10 million<\/a> homes across the U.S. have lead service lines<\/a> \u2013 lead pipes connecting the drinking water main in the street to the home \u2013 it\u2019s an issue that is not well understood by most Americans.<\/p>\n

And that should come as no surprise given that few water utilities across the U.S. can even say with confidence where the lead services lines are in their systems, and fewer still proactively share what information they have with customers.\u00a0 Lead service lines are an aging infrastructure, typically found in communities with older housing.\u00a0 Local recordkeeping over the years has been inconsistent, leaving many utilities today to rely on incomplete, difficult to access, or non-electronic historical records. Many communities appear to have no documentation of when they ceased installing lead service lines altogether.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When records are absent, it can be difficult to determine with certainty if a pipe is lead without digging it up \u2013 and disturbing the pipe can release lead into the water.<\/p>\n

The situation is complicated further by ownership issues: service lines are typically split between a public (i.e., utility) side \u2013 between the main in the street and the property line \u2013 and a private side \u2013 from the sidewalk water meter to the house. \u00a0As a result, utilities often have more information on the public portion of the service line.<\/p>\n

Most utilities address the problem of lead pipes by treating the water to build a protective coating on the inside of the pipes, preventing the leaching of lead.\u00a0 Referred to as corrosion control, this approach is important to reduce lead exposure<\/a>, but not sufficient. It leaves large potential sources of lead in the ground, putting children at risk of exposure when the protective coatings fail. Thus, the best long-term fix is to remove the lead service lines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But how do we fix a problem when we don\u2019t know where it is?\u00a0 The first step is to begin to understand what we do know and make that information available to the public \u2013 thereby raising awareness, creating demand for more information, and allowing everyone<\/em> to act.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DC Water Map<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last month, Washington, DC\u2019s water utility (\u201cDC Water\u201d) made important strides to increase transparency when it launched a new, interactive map<\/a>. The map populates nearly every building and public water source across DC \u2013 including residences, restaurants, retailers, schools, drinking water fountains, museums, and even the White House \u2013 with a color-coded circle indicating whether the both the public\u00a0and private sides of the service line is lead, non-lead, or there\u2019s no available information.\u00a0 The data are based on a combination of physical inspections, consumer reports, and historical data.\u00a0 As such, there is variability in the reliability of each data point, which DC Water is careful to disclose.<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/geo.dcwater.com\/Lead\/\"<\/a>
Screenshot courtesy of https:\/\/geo.dcwater.com\/Lead\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This nifty map is pretty fun to explore.\u00a0 Of course, the first thing I checked out was my house.\u00a0 The color-coded circle hovering over my narrow rowhome is a combination of white and green, signifying that while the public portion of my service line is not lead (green), there is no information for private side (white).<\/p>\n

By clicking the circle, a pop up box provided the following additional detail on the public side: \u00a0\u201cType: Copper; Description: Service pipe replaced 20051006<\/em>.\u201d I decided to investigative a bit further, reaching out to my landlord who confirmed that the public portion was replaced in 2005 during DC\u2019s own \u201clead water crisis<\/a>,\u201d but had no additional information on the private side.<\/p>\n

Despite the data gaps, the map allows DC residents to\u00a0make their own<\/em> informed decisions. Those who find a white, \u201cno information,\u201d circle can take steps to help understand if their home may have a lead pipe, through physical inspection<\/a> or free testing<\/a> provided by the city.\u00a0 Those with evidence of lead may pursue options to replace their lead pipes<\/a>.\u00a0 Others may utilize temporary solutions, such as installing an NSF approved filter<\/a> on their water faucet and always using cold tap water for drinking and cooking.<\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 DC residents can also check out their favorite restaurants, children\u2019s daycare, or office building and make informed decisions to avoid lead exposure.\u00a0 I, for one, have started to skip a particular drinking fountain at one of my weekend hangouts after finding out that it is serviced by a lead pipe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EPA\u2019s call for transparency<\/strong><\/p>\n

On July 6th<\/span>, EPA directed letters<\/a> to state officials calling for improved public transparency and implementation of the federal rule on lead in drinking water.\u00a0 To that end, EPA encouraged states to make information available to the public, \u201cThe EPA believes that posting of individual sampling results is important for public transparency and intends to work with states that are not yet posting individual sample results \u2013 to share lessons learned form states that are already doing so, and to urge all states to adopt this practice.\u201d\u00a0 EPA highlighted the use of online searchable databases of lead service line data as an effective method of increasing transparency.\u00a0 These letters come in response to resistance from many states<\/a> following similar EPA letters sent to U.S. governors, state commissioners, and tribal leaders earlier this year.<\/p>\n

We applaud DC Water for making what data they have available through this comprehensive inventory map.\u00a0 Access to these data is likely to both empower individuals to make informed decisions to reduce their exposure and increase their trust in the public utility.\u00a0 We hope that other cities and municipalities will look to DC as a model, and follow suit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[pullquote]Washington, DC\u2019s water utility launched a helpful interactive map allowing residents to see whether water pipes are lead, non-lead, or if there\u2019s no available information for nearly every building and public water source across DC \u2013 including residences, restaurants, retailers, schools, drinking water fountains, and even the White House and Smithsonian. [\/pullquote] Lindsay McCormick is …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[114106],"tags":[68,39158,134,853],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lead","tag-epa","tag-lead","tag-states","tag-transparency"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5453\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5453"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}