dc lead: Water Anxiety Alters Routines

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Water Anxiety Alters Routines

By Monte Reel

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, February 15, 2004; Page C01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42705-2004Feb14.html

[many useful links on article's url]

When doubts linger, play it safe -- that's the philosophy Anne O'Rourke

has followed. And when it comes to her tap water, doubts are still

lingering and she is still playing it safe, two weeks after lead

contamination became a hot topic of conversation throughout the city.

O'Rourke is using filtered water downstairs in the kitchen of her

Capitol Hill house. Upstairs, she is brushing her teeth with bottled

water. She has ordered a water-testing kit from a private company, and

she has made an appointment with her doctor for a blood test. At

restaurants, she has stopped ordering glasses of ice water and now pays

for bottled water.

According to area businesses, she is not alone. The lead scare -- which

surfaced after the city revealed that 4,075 of 6,118 houses tested last

summer had lead levels exceeding the federal limit -- has changed a lot

of people's daily habits, particularly those of pregnant women and

families with children. O'Rourke fits in both categories, with a

15-month-old daughter and another child on the way.

Holes in the city's databases make it difficult to identify who is

served by lead pipes and who is not. Thousands of households and

businesses in the city simply cannot be sure if their water is or is not

contaminated with high levels of lead. And because it can take a few

days to a month to get results from lead testing, many families have

found themselves taking precautions they are not sure are necessary.

O'Rourke said she twice called the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority to

determine whether her house was served by a lead line but got different

responses: The first person told her it could not be determined with any

certainty, she said, and the second person said her service line was

almost certainly lead.

" It's more than a little disconcerting when you're getting two different

answers, " O'Rourke said. " So I just don't know what to believe. "

Like about 3,000 other WASA customers in the city since Feb. 1, O'Rourke

got a free water-testing kit from the agency. But the city has not yet

collected her samples, and lead results are not expected for 30 days

after they are collected. To get a faster answer, she ordered a testing

kit from a private company. This week she filled the bottles the company

sent to her with water from her tap, returned them to the company and is

waiting for results to come in a matter of days.

" We've probably shipped out 200 bottles to Washington so far, " said

Irving Kipnis, owner and laboratory director of Express Analytical

Services, a Pennsylvania company that offers lead testing for $22 a

bottle. Several other companies in the region offer similar services at

varying prices.

The spike in Kipnis's business is easy to trace. Last year, one D.C.

resident heard of his company and contacted him to test the water at her

house and several of her neighbors' houses. After the lead scare, the

resident posted the company's contact information on an Internet mailing

list for local mothers. The calls have been steady since.

Kipnis said the results he has processed so far have varied widely. He

said he has seen levels near 300 parts per billion -- easily exceeding

the federal limit of 15 -- and he has seen levels that are next to

nothing. One person sent him three samples: one that came from the tap

first thing in the morning, another that came after the water had been

running for a while, and a third after it went through a filter. The

results were 14 for the first, 6 for the second, and 2 for the third.

Such filters -- some of which are certified to significantly reduce lead

-- have been selling briskly, according to local retailers.

At a Safeway store in southeast Capitol Hill, assistant manager Geoffrey

D. said demand has spiked significantly in the last two weeks.

" We're doubling up on those orders, " he said.

also noted that bottled water is selling faster than normal. He

has noticed that on most days the floor supply needs to be restocked by

7 p.m., which he said is unusual. Still, said, he has seen demand

at higher levels in recent years.

" It's not as bad as it was during that terrorist threat [in February

2003], when they were telling people to duct-tape their windows and buy

bottled water, " said. " We couldn't keep water then. It's not like

that now, but it's still selling really well, definitely enough to

notice it. "

Some restaurant managers say customers have been asking about their

water supplies. Coffee shops have been assuring customers that they

filter the water several times before it goes in their drinks.

Representatives of Cosi and Starbucks, for example, say they have always

aggressively filtered their water to ensure a consistent taste.

" I've had a couple people ask me about the water, " said E. Meagher,

general manager of the Hawk 'n' Dove on Capitol Hill. " They say it in

jest, like, 'If this has lead in it, then I'm not coming back,' though I

know the people who are saying it will come back. So I tell them,

'Eating and drinking at the Hawk 'n' Dove is worth lead exposure.' But

we're okay. We have copper pipes. "

But some people still are choosing to take few chances, particularly

those who are pregnant or who have young children.

Dana Rice, who lives in Montgomery County near the District line, is

equidistant from two coffee shops, one in land and one in Washington.

" We've been going to the land one, " said Rice, who is expecting a

child next month, " because we feel like you just don't really know. "

- - -

Concerned About Lead in Water?

<mailto:dcwater@...? & subject=LeadQuery>

Washington Post reporters are interested in talking to customers of the

D.C. Water and Sewer Authority who have drinking water with high lead

levels or other problems. Please e-mail dcwater@...

<mailto:dcwater@...? & subject=LeadQuery> if you would like to

talk with a reporter, and include your name and phone number.

<dcwater@...>

Many Useful links on article's url:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42705-2004Feb14.html

.. Transcript:

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29841-2004Feb10.html>

Experts answer questions on water filtration and water safety levels.

_____Lead Contamination_____

.. Location Of Much Lead Pipe Unclear

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42874-2004Feb14.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 15, 2004)

.. Experts Seek Answers On Tainted D.C. Water

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22468-2004Feb7.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 8, 2004)

.. A Sudden Rush of Interest in Water Filters

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22465-2004Feb7.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 8, 2004)

.. D.C. to Create WASA Task Force

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14068-2004Feb4.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 5, 2004)

.. Water Agency Fired Manager Who Warned of D.C. Lead

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12516-2004Feb4.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 4, 2004)

.. Assails Water Agency On Lead Risk

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6956-2004Feb2.html> (The

Washington Post, Feb 3, 2004)

.. Experts Differ On Threat in D.C. Tap Water

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7061-2004Feb2.html> (The

Washington Post, Feb 3, 2004)

.. Council Furious With Water Agency

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1851-2004Jan31.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 1, 2004)

.. Water in D.C. Exceeds EPA Lead Limit

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64766-2004Jan30.html>

(The Washington Post, Jan 31, 2004)

.. Questions & Answers: Lead Contamination in Water Supply

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7067-2004Feb2.html>

_____Editorials & Opinion_____

.. Filters That Get the Lead Out

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32202-2004Feb11.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 12, 2004)

.. Why Didn't They Get the Lead Out?

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20625-2004Feb6.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 8, 2004)

.. Lead Astray

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17479-2004Feb5.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 6, 2004)

.. WASA's Water Woes

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10812-2004Feb3.html>

(The Washington Post, Feb 4, 2004)

_____On the Web_____

.. EPA: Drinking Water Standards

<http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwhealth.html>

.. EPA: Facts About Lead <http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwh/c-ioc/lead.html>

.. D.C. Water and Sewer Authority <http://www.dcwasa.com/>

.. D.C. Department of Health

<http://dchealth.dc.gov/services/administration_offices/environmental/services2/\

lppd/hotline.shtm>

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

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