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]
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