To comply with new federal environmental protection rules, Aquarion Water Company is mailing its customers letters alerting them of potential lead contamination in their water lines.
The letters are part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule Revisions that require public water systems starting on Oct. 16 to identify any lead or lead containing materials in their system. Customers who received a letter informing them that their galvanized pipes are made of unknown materials does not mean the pipes contain lead.
“The freak-out is caused by the fact that [the EPA] didn’t explain that this is a national law,“ said Fairfield First Selectman Bill Gerber, who has gotten many calls from residents who are afraid there is lead in their drinking water.
The new federal rules require all water companies like Aquarion to compile an inventory of all service lines, detailing the materials used, including those within private properties.
“Testing has been done over decades, and no lead has been found in the water, but the EPA is saying that’s not good enough anymore,” said Gerber.
Peter Fazekas, director of corporate communications for Aquarion, said, “It consistently complies with all federal and state water quality standards, including those for lead.”
Residents can see an inventory of service lines on the website. Any resident in the Aquarion service territory can look up their address to see what Aquarion has on record for their service line (both customer and utility side). They can also call 800-832-2373 with questions about the report.
Easton First Selectman David Bindelgass said he hasn’t received any calls from residents, but the Aspetuck Health District is getting frantic calls from Aquarion customers.
“Aquarion knows their water mains don’t have lead in them, but they don’t have perfect information about everybody’s pipes from the road to their houses,” he said. “The letter is hard to fully understand, but, apparently, the verbiage is direct from the EPA.”
Over the next 10 years, the EPA wants all lead components removed from all of the infrastructure, part of which resides in the house and part in the line leading up to the house.
To find out if there is any lead in your water mains and to access additional information from Aquarion, go to www.aquarionwater.com/water-quality/learn-about-lead.
