County ponders plumbing alternative to fully get rid of lead in Dukeville – Salisbury Submit
SALISBURY – To eliminate lead in drinking water in the Dukeville area, the county government is considering completely replacing the plumbing in several homes in their Northeast Rowan Water System.
District manager Aaron Church will ask for approval during Monday’s commissioners’ meeting to launch an advertisement for a contractor overseeing replacements in homes where lead levels are above the EPA’s action level of 10 parts per billion.
The Northeast Rowan Water System serves 162 connections and several hundred residents. It is owned by the county but the water is treated by Salisbury-Rowan Utilities. The county has been working to resolve the water quality issue since sampling in 2020 showed elevated levels of lead. The county noted that the contamination was due to the solder in some customers’ house lines, rather than the water system itself.
If lead levels in water exceed the EPA’s current action level of 15 parts per billion, the water system will need to inform the public of steps to protect their health and possibly replace lead lines under their control. Rowan County has distributed Brita filters to customers in the Northeast Rowan Water System, encouraging customers to run the taps for a few minutes before use, clean the water aerators in their taps, and only boil with cold water.
The county has been given until Saturday June 12th to obtain EPA compliance through the NC Department of Environmental Quality. Church said the county and the SRU were able to meet this deadline by following the recommendation by Virginia Tech researchers and switched from using a polyphosphate blend to treat utility water to zinc orthophosphate.
The county also decided to build a $ 742,900 chemical booster pumping station on Long Ferry Road that will inject additional zinc orthophosphate into the Northeast Rowan Water System. NCDEQ approved the county’s treatment plan in April.
The switch to zinc orthophosphate took place on June 4th, but construction of the chemical pumping station will not begin until October. Even after the booster station has been completed by the beginning of 2021, it will still take some time for a protective zinc orthophosphate barrier to form in the pipes and prevent lead from penetrating.
“It takes a while for this barrier to be built,” said SRU Director Jim Behmer. “Even if you switch chemicals, it’s not an overnight solution.”
While the county is counting on the zinc orthophosphate and chemical booster station solution to work, Church said changing the plumbing in certain homes will eliminate the lead.
“If we do this, as I understand the science, it should make sure that the drinking water is safe even if the booster chemical pumping station does not work or takes longer than expected,” Church said.
The county has partnered with 120Water to test customer water in the system. So far, 119 samples have been collected, according to Church. Of these, 31 had lead levels in excess of 1.01 parts per billion, with eight exceeding the EPA’s current level of action of 15 parts per billion.
The district has already notified customers via the system who have taken part in the sampling of their lead levels. Now it will contact customers who could be candidates for new plumbing. To be eligible, a customer must go through two additional water tests that show the lead content in their water exceeds the threshold of 10 parts per billion. Customers who are entitled to new sanitary installations receive completely new pipes, taps and shower heads.
Church said he anticipates around 15 customers will be eligible, but that could change as more samples are completed. The county is still offering customers a $ 72 credit on their monthly water bill for doing the sampling at home. You can find more information about the water test online at rowancountync.gov/1662/Water.
The cost of replacing piping in the system’s homes is difficult to pinpoint right now, but it could cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars. Church said the county will consider funding the project through the US rescue plan.
Church’s request to apply for a contractor for the pipeline renovation project is listed on the approval agenda for the committee meeting on Monday. If approved, Church said the county will likely hire a contractor by August and replace the plumbing work by late spring next year.
