Saint Paul Water Quality Meeting - Lead in YOUR water??

​Water utility staff will take the time to present general information about the quality of our drinking water along with information on lead services still in our water system that can affect drinking water quality.
Staff will be at the Dayton’s Bluff recreation center multipurpose room from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on November 30.
There are up to 28,000 homes in the SPRWS service area that have private lead service lines delivering water from the water main in the street into the home. Of those, about 14,000 have lead service lines in the street. Lead service lines stopped being installed in 1927, with the exception of a few years during World War II.
These lead service lines can be a cause of concern. It is possible that they can increase the amount of exposure to lead in drinking water.
We treat the water to reduce that exposure by adjusting alkalinity and pH levels. This treatment reduces the chance that lead will leach into the water. It has been effective, as we are compliance with the lead and copper rule from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Even so, there can be individual homes with lead service lines that have higher levels of lead in drinking water than might be desirable.
If you are concerned, what can you do?

• Find out if you have a lead service line. Call us at 651-266-6270 to find out.
• Test your water lead levels. We will test them for free.
• Remove your lead service line and replace it with copper. We offer financing in the city of Saint Paul to help make it more affordable.

If you can’t do those things, or don’t want to, there are still some things that you can do:

• Run your water from your tap for 3 -5 minutes before using it for drinking or cooking if the water has been sitting stagnant in the pipes for more than six hours, such as overnight.
• Buy a home filtration system or use a point-of-use water filter pitcher that is certified for lead removal and use that for drinking and cooking.
• Find out more about lead in drinking water. More information is available at https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/water-services/water-quality/lead-household-water.

 
For those homes that have lead service lines, SPRWS does everything we can to reduce your exposure to lead in drinking water. If we work together, we can reduce that exposure even further.
 
Join us at the Merriam Park library from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on November 16 or from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on November 30 at the Dayton’s Bluff recreation center multipurpose room to find out more.