District of Columbia Water and
Sewer Authority
5000 Overlook Avenue, SW, Washington D.C. 20032
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2005
Contact: Johnnie R. Hemphill, Jr.
Acting Public Affairs Director
202-787-2200
Additional Lead & Copper Rule Compliance Sample Results
50 percent of Compliance Samples for January to June 2005
March 11, 2005 - The DC Water and Sewer Authority (WASA)
is encouraged by a continuing downward trend in lead levels in compliance
samples for District of Columbia tap water.
"The District of Columbia continues to exceed the
action level, and affected consumers should continue to follow
precautions, including the flushing advice and the use of certified water
filtration systems, as appropriate. However, we are very pleased by this
significant and measurable trend," said WASA General Manager, Jerry
Johnson.
Under the Lead and Copper Rule, WASA is required to
collect a minimum 100 compliance samples between January and June, and a
second set of 100 compliance samples between July and December each year.
Today, WASA announced the results for compliance samples from 51
households taken from February 22 to March 2, 2005. The "90th
percentile level" for these samples is 14 parts per billion. The
results from this partial sample set is below the 15 parts per billion 90th
percentile level that is the USEPA trigger for exceeding the lead action
level under the USEPA Lead and Copper Rule.
Of the 51 sample results collected so far in 2005, 39 were from
residences that were tested between July and December of 2004. Last year,
14 of these 39 samples exceeded the action level. When tested again in
2005, 10 of these 14 fell below the action level, and the remaining 4 that
exceeded the action level last year showed a significant reduction in
2005.
Johnson said, "WASA reported the results from the
first 19 compliance samples taken from homes in 2005 earlier this week.
The decline in these additional 32 sample results is consistent with a
trend detected in the fourth quarter of 2004."
This promising trend is being attributed to the addition of
orthophosphateby the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Washington Aqueduct,
which produces and supplies the water WASA distributes to District
residents. Orthophosphate was added to the system last August.
Johnson stated, "WASA continues to aggressively monitor its
distribution system to ensure that water quality is being maintained, and
that no adverse affects have resulted since the addition of
orthophosphate. We anticipate completing the rest of our compliance
sampling by early May." |