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Safe Plumbing Act of 2009
Testimony as prepared for delivery on Jan. 8, 2010.
Good afternoon, Chairperson Bowser and Members of the Committee on Public Service and Consumer Affairs. I'd like to thank you for inviting the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA) to testify in support of the "Safe Plumbing Act of 2009". My name is George Hawkins and I am the General Manager of DC WASA.
By way of background on our position on this issue, on April 2, 2009, the DC WASA Board of Directors passed a resolution in support of lead-free plumbing legislation. The resolution encourages the Council of the District of Columbia to adopt legislation that reduces the weighted average of lead to:
- Not more than 0.25 percent as a weighted average of wetted surfaces and
- Not more than 0.2 percent in solder and flux in new plumbing fixtures intended to dispense water for human consumption through drinking or cooking.
The Board's resolution and this legislative action taken by the Council underscore the continuing effort to reduce potential sources of lead in the District's drinking water. Evidence continues to tell us that the safest level of lead from any source is zero. Elevated blood lead levels can result in behavioral problems, developmental delay, decreased bone and muscle growth and, in extreme cases, seizures or death. We also must bear in mind the particular impact that lead leaching may have on vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and young children. As the primary distributor of the District's drinking water, DC WASA supports strategies to identify and reduce potential lead sources. We work closely with the Washington Aqueduct, which supplies the District's drinking water, to understand treatment changes and their potential effects on lead leaching. While our compliance testing currently shows the District's lead in water levels to be below all federal standards, we are working with stakeholders to discuss ways to potentially enhance and evaluate our processes, so as to better capture and prevent health impacts. In addition, WASA proactively undertook a recent study to identify the potential relationship between galvanized iron piping and lead in water levels. This research, released in September 2009, demonstrated a previously unknown correlation that enables us to better inform customers and understand which properties are more likely to be at risk for lead levels above the action level of 15 parts per billion. This information, combined with the protections offered by this bill, presents a more complete portrait of lead sources that will enable us to act more effectively in preventing exposure to lead.
"The Safe Plumbing Act of 2009" fills a critical gap within this issue by addressing plumbing fixtures on both the public and private sides as a potential lead source. On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, the lead prevention section warns that "most of the lead in household water usually comes from the plumbing in your house." As DC WASA works to reduce lead within the distribution system, this bill protects consumers from potentially harmful products, while highlighting to residents the importance of the content of their fixtures.
DC WASA first began working towards lead-free fixtures and plumbing elements in 2006, by specifying that our meters must be NSF-61 certified lead-free. As the NSF standard has evolved, we have changed our procurement requirements accordingly, and our latest meter contract already reflects the same standard, Annex G, adopted by this bill. In addition, our "New Material Committee", consisting of engineering and water services professionals, stands ready to evaluate our practices, existing inventories and procurement specifications to ensure that DC WASA is in full compliance with the Safe Plumbing Act.
Lead-free standards were initially introduced in 1974, when the federal government passed the "Safe Drinking Water Act" (SDWA) to protect public health by regulating the nation's public drinking water supply. The SDWA allows the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set standards for drinking water to protect against naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants found in drinking water. In 1986 and 1996, numerous amendments to the law helped change how the EPA, states, and water systems prepare for future drinking water safety challenges and assure the availability of safe drinking water.
The current federal lead plumbing standard, as enacted by the 1996 amendments to the SDWA, defines "lead-free" as solders and flux not exceeding 0.2 percent lead and pipes, pipe fittings, and well pumps that do not exceed eight percent lead. Furthermore, plumbing fittings or fixtures dispensing water for human ingestion must contain less than 8.0 percent lead. Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate are preparing to introduce new legislation that would change these standards to be consistent with the current California standard of 0.25 percent. Passage of "The Safe Plumbing Act of 2009" would place the District ahead of a national effort and would allow us to get a head start on compliance.
In summary, DC WASA welcomes this measure as an important means of limiting lead exposure and further ensuring the safety of the District's drinking water. I thank you again, Madame Chairperson, and the rest of the Committee Members, for allowing the Authority to testify today on this legislation. I am happy to answer any questions you or the other Members of the Committee might have.