High Lead Levels Found in Chicago
Water
by: Ellen Gabler
Chicago Tribune
August 5, 2011
In Chicago, high amounts of lead
were found in seven of 38 homes during the required testing. A number set in
1990, 15 parts per billion in 10% of water samples, is the maximum amount of
lead that can be in a home or pipe before it has to be examined with a closer
look. Unfortunately, this number can be fixed, and has been. Utility providers required
to do the testing have instructed residents to flush their pipes to remove lead
one day before testing. They also use methods old methods that worked two
decades ago, but are inaccurate today. After the City of Chicago took it upon
themselves to check the water, the numbers were astounding. Although the lead
levels do not reach the magic number of 15, they come close. Two homes
registered 14.9 and 13.1 parts per billion. Most buildings that have running
water have been told to flush their pipes, like schools. The utilities do not
want to go through fixing pipes. Cold water supposedly contains less lead. Most
utilities collect cold over the hot water that most of us use. High levels of
lead can cause IQ loss in children, even death. The City of Chicago is stepping
up to take care of this deadly problem.
This is a photo of a family wondering if there is deadly lead material in their drinking water.
This is a photo of a family wondering if there is deadly lead material in their drinking water.
The utilities that change the
results of lead testing are just wrong. They need to change their methods and
lower the parts per billion number. Any amount of lead can be deadly, so why
can’t the number be zero or one? Lead is a poisonous material and it needs to
be monitored closely. It also needs to be monitored during a typical day. There
should be random test days so utilities can’t tell their customers to flush
their lines to protect them from losing money. Older homes contain more lead
due to the lead-based paints that were used years ago. I live in an old house,
built in 1937, and lead paint was used. Concerns obviously arose due to the fact
that lead paint was used inside and outside our home. My parents made sure that
all areas of the house were “cleansed” of the poisonous material. This is no
laughing matter, and we can’t afford to wait for it to be changed. The entire
United States needs to change their lead testing right away. There needs to be
a sense of urgency right now!
1.
Do you trust your utility provider after reading
this article? Why or why not?
2.
Have your parents ever been told to flush their
pipes? If so, by what company?
3.
Have you ever feared that lead could be inside
of you right now?
4.
Have you ever thought that lead could be inside
your house right now? Why or why not?
The professional that I emailed was John H. Porter, who works at the University of Virginia, in the department of Environmental Science. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a PH.D in 1988 and has a few publications. I think he is a good choice because he has been working in the field for a long time and has many interesting projects he is currently working on. Here is a copy of my email that I sent to him.
ReplyDeleteHi Mr. Porter
My name is Nicole and I am a freshman at Hatboro-Horsham High School, and my class is currently working on a blog in the area of environmental science. We'd really like if you could comment on some of our work, and help enhance our knowledge in this class with your expertise. The link to the blog is http://bndmdeluca.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=8. Thank you so much for your time. Have a nice day!
Sincerely,
Nicole
My response to the first question: Do you trust your utility provider after reading this article? Why or why not? is No becuase my house has no lead pipes. When my house was build it was the start of thinking that lead was bad for you.
ReplyDeleteTo the second question: Have your parents ever been told to flush their pipes? If so, by what company? I say No becuase of the same reason of the first question. We do not have lead pipes. They do have friends that they know that have been asked to flush their pipes.
The third qeustion: Have you ever feared that lead could be inside of you right now? My respose is Yes becuase i am a woory wort. I know that where I live is a safe place, But if I go to someone else house, I think of that in the back of my mind.
I think that it is terrible that children may die or have a lower IQ due to a high levels of lead. The most upsetting thing is that utility providers know the dangers of lead but try to hide the facts from their customers.Families deserve safe water and I think that utility providers should do their job and deliver lead free water. Regular tests should be done in homes on both hot and cold water without the pipes being flushed. My Dad owns a construction business and recently the government made regulations that required construction workers to be educated about lead and lead poisoning. I could relate to this article because I know my Dad had to be very careful around old houses that had lead paint and make sure that he reported this and kept paint out of the pipes and water. The limiting factor in some countries is water, and it is very scary knowing that even if you have water, it might not be safe to drink because of the possibility of high amounts of lead.
ReplyDelete1)What do you think people can do to make the utility providers more responsible and make sure they deliver accurate results?
2)Do you think the government should enforce more laws to make sure there are lower levels of lead in drinking water? how, and what kind of laws?
3)What can people do to help themselves and know if there water is safe?