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Tampa Bay water agencies change suggestions for home-testing of lead

 
Published June 17, 2016

Call it an abundance of caution in the aftermath of Flint's lead in the water catastrophe.

With municipalities around the country scrambling to reassure residents worried about lead in their drinking water after the massive contamination in that Michigan city, St. Petersburg decided this week to update its instructions for residents who want to test their own water for lead.

At issue? Whether to instruct residents who draw their own water samples to "gently open" or to turn the faucet like they were filling a glass of water.

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency memo issued in February changed its instructions to include opening taps as if you were filling a glass of water. The agency wouldn't comment on the change, but a final rule is expected next year.

Earlier this month, the Guardian newspaper https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/02/lead-water-testing-cheats-chicago-boston-philadelphia. listed St. Petersburg and Tampa among 33 cities east of the Mississippi River that used "cheats" to potentially conceal dangerous levels of lead.

Water officials in Tampa and St. Petersburg vigorously contest that claim, saying the EPA update was a clarification, not a substantive change. They also point out that very few residents test their own water for lead. Usually, city crews do the testing.

The EPA change is subtle, but significant, say water-quality experts. Basically, the more forcefully you open a tap, the faster the water flows. And faster flowing water is more likely to dislodge lead flakes in the pipe.

"The reason why EPA revised its guidelines in February was to get as close as possible to the way people use water," said Jeffrey Cunningham, an environmental engineering professor at the University of South Florida.

Cunningham said this week that he didn't think St. Petersburg had a problem with lead in its water supply, but he recommended that owners of older homes ask a plumber if they have lead in their service lines.

"I'm sure the city will alleviate public fears and follow EPA guidance," Cunningham said.

On Wednesday, the city did just that. Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley instructed his staff to make the change in its instructions.

"We always want to make sure we're in compliance with the most recent updates," Tankersley said.

City officials said the change won't affect many residents. In recent years, hardly anyone did the testing themselves.

City employees test almost all homes for lead in the water pipes, said Ben Kirby, spokesman for Mayor Rick Kriseman. In 2014, a handful of residents did the testing themselves. This year, no one did, he said.

That's as it should be, said Thomas Waite, an environmental engineering professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Residents aren't qualified to test their water for lead. That job should be done by professionals, he said.

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"I'm sure the public gets confused over this," Waite said. "You've got to be careful how you test the water. If you give directions to lay people, the odds are pretty good that you're not going to see what's happening (with lead in a house's pipes)."

Clearwater changed its instructions after the February EPA memo.

Tampa plans to update its instructions, too. Water officials in that city said the change is a clarification, not a substantive change.

"We follow EPA guidelines — it's that simple," said Chuck Weber, the city's water department director. "There is a difference between filling something so slowly the water barely trickles out of the faucet and filling a sample bottle slowly so you don't spill the first drop."

Capturing that first drop is a vital part of water testing, Weber said. Running the water too quickly risks splashing. The revised procedures issued by the EPA in February were merely to clarify instructions, he said.

"All they did was change the guidance to make it more clear; the intent of what they're saying they didn't change," he said.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said it has alerted water departments around the state about the EPA's updated suggestions so that they can adjust their own home-testing instructions.

Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727)893-8459. Follow@CharlieFrago. Contact Christopher O'Donnell at codonnell@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow@codonnell_Times