EPA Moves for Stricter Lead Monitoring in Water

Stricter monitoring and reporting of problems with lead in drinking water will be required of utilities, states, schools and child care facilities, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday. Agency officials said that they found few such problems nationally, but that they were moving to impose stricter requirements in the 1991 lead and copper regulations starting next year, because of problems with lead in drinking water in Washington, D.C. Those problems gained widespread attention only two years later, and residents complained that the city did little to alert them. The agency proposes that utilities notify states at least 60 days before making changes in treatment and that control corrosion in pipes be controlled better. Utilities would also have to notify residents of any testing within a home or facility. Lead service lines that do not meet requirements would have to be re-examined after any major changes to the treatment of drinking water. The agency also updated its 1994 guidance on testing for lead in schools' drinking water. [more]