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High lead readings fell after running tap water, Sebring officials said
SEBRING
Some alarmingly high lead levels in tap water here were reduced to levels well below the federal limit by just running the water for five minutes.
The numbers were presented in a report to Village Council this week by Village Manager Richard D. Giroux.
For example, his report said a reading of 101.9 parts per billion of lead was obtained from a water sample drawn from a tap at 695 W. Ohio Ave. that had been unused for six hours Feb. 3.
When the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency resampled that location Friday after running the water for five minutes, the lead reading was only 3.5 ppb.
The federal allowable limit is 15 ppb.
Initial draws from faucets that had been unused for six hours registered 303 ppb of lead at 107 E. Ohio Ave., 178 ppb at 435 Hillsdale Ave. and 40.6 at 456 W. Ohio Ave.
All of those locations registered below 2 ppb of lead in samples drawn Friday and Sunday after letting the water run for 5 minutes.
“Lead levels can be drastically reduced by letting the water run,” Giroux said.
“These follow-up tests confirm that the water coming into the homes is healthy” and that turning on the tap for several minutes dramatically reduces the lead content in the water, the Ohio EPA said in a news release.
Carol Rimedio-Righetti, chairwoman of the Mahoning County commissioners, said Wednesday that, if she were a Sebring water system customer, she would run her tap water five minutes before drinking it.
She said she realizes that a running tap normally dispenses two gallons per minute for a total of 10 gallons in five minutes.
“That’s a safety precaution for the residents to do that,” she said.
“I’d do that for the time being until somebody comes up with a solution for these residents,” either through water-chemistry adjustment or lead-pipe replacement, or both, she said.
She said, however, the village should consider offering a credit on future bills to compensate those who need to run their water for five minutes as a safety measure.
The Mahoning River headwaters, which constitute the village water source, and the village’s water treatment plant show no detectable levels of lead, but the state and federal EPAs and village officials are working to fine-tune the water chemistry to reduce leaching of lead into the water from certain homeowners’ pipes, OEPA said.
Since Jan. 21, 664 of 698 residential water samples taken from that system have tested below 15 ppb, OEPA reported
The state agency cited Sebring on Tuesday for failing to correctly communicate test results and guidance to homeowners and failing to submit required weekly water chemistry reports.
The OEPA-required free bottled water distribution to Sebring water customers continues from 7 a.m. to noon Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Sebring Community Center, 305 W. Texas Ave.
There will be no water distribution there today or Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Youngstown Phantoms hockey team based at the Covelli Centre will be collecting bottled water and monetary donations for Sebring from Monday through Feb. 19 at the Covelli Centre during game night or business hours at the box office or the Phantoms’ office.
Donors of a case of water or $5 in cash will get a single ticket voucher for any Friday Phantom’s home game for the rest of the season.
The cash will be used to buy more bottled water for Sebring water system customers.
“This is a very difficult time if you don’t have good drinking water, so we wanted to play a small part in helping the Sebring community,” said Aafke Loney, Phantoms co-owner.
The village plans to add orthophosphate to its water-treatment process to stabilize the water’s pH, “and then conduct a slow purge of water in the distribution system to mitigate further possible lead issues,” with notification to water customers when this occurs, Giroux said.
“Best estimates at this point to normalize the water in the system is three weeks to 30 days,” Giroux told council members.
“We need to just move forward and get it fixed,” Rimedio-Righetti said.
She said she’d like to see the state fund replacement of residential lead-service connections and plumbing served by the Sebring water-supply system.
“The ones that are affected by this the most should get some help to try to fix what’s happening there,” she concluded.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, voted Wednesday in favor of the Safe Drinking Water Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act, which he introduced with U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., and Fred Upton, R-Mich., last week.
This bill is in response to safe drinking water emergencies, such as those in Flint, Mich., and in Sebring. It passed the House 416-2.
“Safety is, and always will be, my No. 1 priority. It is outrageous that those in Sebring and Flint were knowingly and blatantly put in danger by the very people who were supposed to be protecting their well-being,” Ryan said.
“I am proud of the swift and deliberate action of the House of Representatives to pass this important legislation,” Ryan added.
This legislation will strengthen requirements to have the U.S. EPA notify the public when concentrations of lead in drinking water are above federal requirements.
It requires the EPA to create a strategic plan for handling and improving information flow between water utilities, the states, the EPA and affected consumers. It also ensures consumer notification when the corrosiveness of water being transported in a lead pipe could leak into public drinking water.