State and federal officials are making adjustments to the water testing process after major lead issues in Flint, Michigan, and a recent concern in a small town right here in South Dakota.
Routine testing found elevated levels of lead in Doland’s water supply in the fall of 2014. Mark Mayer is the Administrator of the Drinking Water program for the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He says the city’s corrosion control system was offline, and had been for an unknown amount of time. The system injects a chemical that coats pipes and stops lead from leeching into the water. He says it’s back online, and preliminary tests show that it’s working. In South Dakota the DENR implements the federal Safe Drinking Water Act on behalf of the EPA, with the exception of tribal systems. Mayer says the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan prompted officials with his office to check in with communities that had lead problems in the past to make sure their corrosion control systems were working or no longer needed. He says inspectors will pay closer attention to those systems in the future.
“Before we had a couple of questions,” Mayer says. “Do you have corrosion control equipment, what chemical do you use, that kind of thing. But we’re going to be a little more attentive to that and be sure that we inspect that equipment specifically and the records that they keep on their use of that chemical and that equipment.”
Mayer says the federal lead and copper rule is undergoing changes as part of a normal review process. He says he predicts a push to remove all lead service lines.
“That’s a big job, and that’s not something that can happen overnight,” Mayer says. “They’ll look harder at finding ways to help water systems fund that effort.”
Mayer expects the federal rule to be finalized within the next few years.
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