By Hayley Ferguson

Safe Water

City says lead in water “isn’t a concern” in Medicine Hat

Nov 5, 2019 | 5:46 PM

Medicine Hat, AB – When you turn on the tap to pour a glass of water, you expect that what you are drinking is safe.

After a year-long investigation by more than 120 journalists that may not be the case in Canada.

Tests show that aging infrastructure and plumbing connecting homes to water mains across the country may contain higher levels of lead than national safety guidelines accept.

The results of those tests caught the eye of Medicine Hat Mayor Ted Clugston.

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“I mean lead, let’s be serious, could be linked to the fall of Rome. And it’s very very serious that you have to take lead poisoning. I’m not saying there’s lead poisoning and that water is safe, but it caught our attention,” he said.

From coast to coast, 11 cities were tested as part of the investigation.

With no data specifically for Medicine Hat, leading many to wonder about the quality of our tap water.

John Michalopoulos, the city’s manager of water and wastewater treatment, says there’s no need for worry though, with their regular testing coming well below the average of five parts per billion (ppb).

“We in our quarterly testing at the plant and in the distribution system, take random samples that are a factor of 10 less. So it really isn’t a concern for us. Lead isn’t a concern in the distribution system,” he said.

While in the other cases in Canada, the water generally contains no lead when it leaves municipal treatment plants.

It’s the aging lead pipes that are the main source of contamination, many of which were installed in the 1940s and 1950s and are not due to be replaced for years.

In some municipalities, officials wouldn’t even know where to start digging with very little records on the material used in those days.

In Medicine Hat though, Michalopoulos says that almost all have been replaced.

“Currently we are aware of approximately 50 out of 23,000 services,” he continued. “If we do encounter the odd lead one or a galvanized one, we’ll notify the homeowner and ask them, because it is their responsibility to change it from the property line in.”

Because it is the homeowners responsibility, Michalopoulos says that if they live in homes built in the second world war era, to not be afraid to look into if their lines or fixtures are lead.

“To people that might be concerned with lead, it’s a very small quantity here in Medicine Hat. It’s not a concern for us. If you suspected that you have lead, call a plumber to check the service in your house,” he said.