Overview:
- Residents across Metro Detroit were notified by their local water departments last week about potential lead in their water service lines.
- This notification is part of compliance with state and federal drinking water laws, which mandate the publication of data and maps on the lead status of service lines.
- The letter informs residents about the presence of lead or unknown materials and offers advice on reducing exposure.
- Detroit received $90 million in federal grants to replace lead pipes and aims to replace all 80,000 lead pipes within the next decade.
Metro Detroit residents were surprised last week by letters from local water departments warning that their water service lines might contain lead.
On threads in the Detroit subreddit and NextDoor, they expressed confusion and worry after receiving form letters warning about the health effects of lead and advising measures such as filtering drinking water and cleaning faucet aerators.
The letter push is part of water systems’ compliance requirements under state and federal drinking water laws, which includes publishing data and maps detailing the lead status of service lines serving homes.
learn more
What you need to know: Detroit’s water safe, but lead pipes remain a risk
Water utilities in Metro Detroit are informing residents about lead, galvanized, or unknown service lines due to new federal and state regulations. These rules mandate water systems to inventory and notify residents about potential risks and offer guidance on minimizing lead exposure.
Local water systems were required to publish inventories of the materials composing water service lines, termed Comprehensive Distribution System Materials Inventories by Oct. 16 and notify affected residents within 30 days. Water systems serving more than 50,000 residents are required to publish the inventory online.
While Michigan’s rule has required water systems to notify residents of confirmed lead service lines within 30 days since 2018, compliance has been sporadic, according to Elin Betanzo, a drinking water expert and founder of Safe Water Engineering.
“it’s not clear how many water utilities complied with the requirement to notify homes with lead service lines before now,” Betanzo told Planet Detroit. “This year’s October 16 inventory deadline and November 15 notification requirement set by the EPA created a clear moment of accountability.”
According to state guidance, the letters must inform residents about the presence of lead or unknown materials and advise on reducing exposure.
“The initial inventory must be publicly accessible and contain information about known lead service lines, galvanized service lines that currently are or ever were downstream of lead or unknown service lines (referred to as “galvanized requiring replacement” or GRR) and unknown service lines,” said EGLE spokesperson Scott Dean.
New notification requirements
Dean noted that the new rule also requires water systems to issue a “Tier 1” public notice within 24 hours of a water system exceeding EPA’s lead action level.
A lead action level exceedance is reached when the 90th percentile of all lead sample results within a water system during a given monitoring period exceeds 15 parts per billion. Under the state’s Lead and Water Copper Rule, the action level in Michigan will drop to 12 ppb on Jan. 1, 2025.
Water systems with lead action level exceedances must take actions such as increasing monitoring, informing and educating water customers, and working to remove sources such as lead service lines.
Metro Detroit communities with lead action level exceedances in 2024 include Harper Woods, Redford Township, Livonia, Garden City and the Shorewood Hills Subdivision in Bloomfield Township.
“There is no safe level of lead exposure, and lead has no useful purpose for the body, Betanzo previously wrote in a Planet Detroit guest column. “Lead is especially harmful to children, causing developmental delays, learning difficulties and other severe health issues.”
Adults can have elevated risks of heart disease, high blood pressure and kidney or nervous system problems, according to the letter sent by the city of Detroit.
‘Not new information’
Older cities with aging infrastructure like Detroit, Highland Park and Metro Detroit’s inner-ring suburbs are at risk of lead service in their water. The federal government banned lead in plumbing in 1986.
Bryan Peckinpaugh, a spokesperson for Detroit Water and Sewer Department, downplayed any alarm.
“The drinking water is safe in the city of Detroit, and this is not new information,” Peckinpaugh told Planet Detroit.
He noted that the EPA has required every community with lead service lines to send out a letter indicating what the municipality’s records state about the service line material at each property.
“The service line notifications do not indicate a change in Detroit’s water quality. Our drinking water is safe, and we continue to improve its quality,” Peckingpaugh said. “What has changed is our improvement in tracking service line data and predicting the locations of lead service lines as we move across the city replacing them.”
What to do if your lead service line contains (or may contain) lead
Residents are encouraged to check their water system’s published inventory and take recommended precautions if their service line is flagged as lead or unknown.
Precautions include using certified lead-reducing filters for drinking and cooking water, cleaning faucet aerators regularly to remove lead particles and flushing water lines by running taps before use.
Residents who want to test their home’s drinking water for lead can contact a state-certified lab for lead and copper testing.
The City of Detroit received $90 million in federal grant funding last month to replace lead pipes. The city said it has ramped up replacement rates from 700 lead pipes per year to over 8,000 this year and is now on track to replace all 80,000 lead pipes within the next decade.
Water systems’ methods for publishing the inventory results vary. For example, Detroit and Highland Park use interactive ArcGIS maps, allowing residents to look up their service line materials on a map by entering their address and allowing users to see the extent of lead service lines in their neighborhoods.
Meanwhile, Royal Oak and Rochester Hills provide downloadable spreadsheets with detailed information about service line materials classifications and replacement status with addresses.
Here’s the list of published inventories Planet Detroit has identified as of 11/18/24:
learn more
New federal rule demands lead pipe replacement in 10 years, $90M for Detroit
The Biden-Harris administration’s new rule mandates replacing all lead service lines in drinking water systems nationwide within a decade. Detroit is already benefiting from $90 million for lead pipe replacement, aiding Michigan communities recovering from the Flint water crisis.
GUEST COLUMN: Michigan’s new lead rule for drinking water is six years old. How are we doing?
Michigan has enacted the toughest regulations to curb lead in drinking water, mandating the replacement of all lead service lines by 2041, enhanced water testing, and stricter lead limits to mitigate lead exposure in Michigan water.
