New lead testing for water lines are coming to cities and towns in Alberta - Photo by Charles Lefebvre

By Charles Lefebvre

Medicine Hat, Redcliff preparing new lead testing plans for water lines

Nov 27, 2019 | 5:14 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Cities across Alberta will be putting a renewed focus on lead testing for drinking water starting next year.

Alberta Environment and Parks sent a memo out to all communities in Alberta earlier this month, requiring cities and towns to create programs to address lead in drinking water.

“Alberta Environment recently updated their guidance on that, and that came out on November 12,” said Lora Brenan, general manager of environmental utilities for the City of Medicine Hat.

“They’re really asking that we put in place a more comprehensive plan of what we’re seeing in terms of lead at the actual taps of residents. Included with that, they’re asking about what more work can be done in terms of removing lead from existing systems.”

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The decision comes following a year-long investigation by Global News and the Toronto Star. In the investigation, the agencies collected water test results for 11 cities across Canada, and found higher levels of lead in the water.

Health Canada says the maximum acceptable level of lead in water is five parts per billion (the equivalent of five tablespoons in an Olympic sized swimming pool). Some cities, such as Calgary, reported results up to four times higher than the acceptable amount, according to the report.

Brenan says keeping the water lead-free has been a focus for Medicine Hat for many years.

“Lead has been shown to lead to health issues, and the city’s taken that seriously for a number of decades, and has already been already removing those services that they’ve find on the city’s main lines and distribution systems,” she said.

Brenan adds lead was used for pipe construction in the 1940s and 1950s, and they will placing a focus on homes built during that time for testing.

But, they won’t be the only homes being tested.

“We’ll probably be doing some random sampling outside of those areas to see if we see any lead show up in the newer communities where you might not expect to see it,” she said.

1975 was the final year lead could be used for plumbing, and that will be the focus for the Town of Redcliff as they review their plans.

Derrin Thibault, acting CAO for the town, says they expect a plan before town council by February.

“It will be testing initially, and finding these 40 places we need to test,” he said. “(We) think it’s maybe in the older neighbourhoods or somewhere where we think lead is a possibility, and (we) will see what the tests reveal.”

While updated testing plans are still months away from coming into effect, both Medicine Hat and Redcliff say lead levels from the most recent tests are at safe levels.

“We’ve done our tests for 2019, and we have no concerns about lead levels in the Town of Redcliff at this time,” said Thibault.

“Our testing indicates we’re still in the acceptable limits that the government has set,” said Brenan.

Sample testing under the province’s new guidelines has to be finished by September 30, 2021.

Cities and towns in Alberta will have to remove all lead water lines by 2024.