Lead & Your Drinking Water

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Janesville Water Utility are concerned about lead in your drinking water. Lead in your drinking water may come from materials commonly used in plumbing and water distribution systems, such as service lines, pipes, brass and bronze fixtures or solders and fluxes. Corrosive water may remove lead from these materials, causing lead to enter your drinking water.

Sources of Lead in Drinking Water

Lead is unusual among drinking water contaminants in that it seldom occurs naturally in water supplies like ground water, rivers or lakes. Lead enters drinking water primarily as a result of the corrosion, or wearing away of materials containing lead in the water distribution system and household plumbing. These materials include lead-based solder used to join copper pipe, brass and chrome plated brass faucets, and in some cases, pipes made of lead that connect your house to the water main (service lines). In 1986, Congress banned the use of lead solder containing greater than 0.2% lead, and restricted the lead content of faucets, pipes and other plumbing materials to 0.8%.

When water stands in lead pipes or plumbing systems containing lead for several hours or more, the lead may dissolve into your drinking water. This means the first water drawn from the tap in the morning, or later in the afternoon after returning from work or school, can contain fairly high levels of lead.

Health Effects of Lead

Lead is a common, natural and often used metal found throughout the environment in lead-based paint, air, soil, household dust, food, certain types of pottery, porcelain, pewter and water. Lead can pose a significant risk to your health if too much of it enters your body. Lead builds up over many years and can cause damage to the brain, red blood cells and kidneys. The greatest risk is to young children and pregnant women. Amounts of lead that will not hurt adults can cause delays in normal mental and physical development in babies and young children, and slight deficits in attention span, hearing and learning abilities. Lead exposure may also cause slight increases in the blood pressure of some adults.

Steps You Can Take at Home to Reduce Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water

To find out whether you need to take action in your own home, have your drinking water tested to determine if it contains excessive concentrations of lead. You can’t see, taste or smell lead in drinking water, so the only sure way to find out if your drinking water contains excess lead is to get your water tested.

If a water test indicates that the drinking water drawn from a tap in your home contains lead above 15 ppb, then you should take the following precautions:

Flush the tap before using it for drinking or cooking anytime the water in a faucet has gone unused for more than six (6) hours. Water sitting in pipes for a while can contain lead levels higher than normal. To properly flush the tap, run the cold water faucet until the water gets noticeably colder, usually about 15 to 30 seconds. If your house has a lead service line to the water main, you may have to flush the water for several minutes before drinking it. Do not cook with or drink water from the hot water tap. Hot water can dissolve lead more quickly than cold water. If you need hot water, draw from the cold tap and heat it. Flushing tap water is a simple and inexpensive measure you can take to protect your family’s health. It usually uses less than one or two gallons of water and costs less than 50 cents per month. To conserve water, fill a couple of bottles for drinking water after flushing the tap, and whenever possible use the first flush water to wash dishes or water plants.

Actions We're Taking to Reduce Lead

Although we have found that our water tests have shown that our 90th percentile is well below the maximum contaminate level and we have not experienced any locations that have exceeded the maximum contaminate level, we have committed to replace all existing lead service lines in the City.

For More Information

You can consult a variety of sources for additional information. Your family doctor or pediatrician can perform a blood test for lead and provide you with information about the health effects of lead.
The Janesville Water Utility at (608) 755-3115 can provide you with information about our community’s water supply and a list of local laboratories that have been certified by EPA for testing water quality.

The State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Health at (608) 266-1826 or the Rock County Health Department at (608) 757-5440 can provide you with additional information about the health effects of lead and how you can have your child’s blood tested.

The following is a list of some of the state approved laboratories in our area that you can contact to have your water tested for lead:

State Lab of Hygiene               Northern Lake Service
465 Henry Mall                        400 N. Lake Ave.
Madison, WI 53706                 Crandon, WI 54520-1298
(608) 262-3458                        (715) 478-3060

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
City of Janesville – Water Utility
123 E. Delavan Dr.
Janesville, WI 53546
(608) 755-3115
waterutilitymail@ci.janesville.wi.us