Residents of about 16,000 older homes across Ottawa with potenially lead tainted drinking water will have to wait another year to find out how long it will take the city to replace their outdated lead pipes.
City council passed Coun. Alex Cullen's motion last week that requires the city to oversee the replacement of old lead pipes in affected homes at a faster pace. The new program would be presented during next year’s budget meeting.
The current program, which replaces services in 150 homes a year, is “appalling,” said Cullen.
“Show us what it takes to get this problem cleaned up by 2014,” he said.
At the present rate, it will take 106 years to replace the lead pipes in the affected homes.
“Its a problem that we just can’t let sit there,” Cullen said, “which is why I’m trying to get this thing accelerated.”
Last summer, the province passed regulations requiring municipalities to regularly test for lead in drinking water.
Dixon Weir, Ottawa’s director of water and wastewater services said the city will begin its first round of testing between now and April 15. The information collected will allow staff and councillors to make “good knowledge-based decisions" about accelerating the lead service replacement program.
Many of the homes tested for pipe replacement were built before 1956.
Theresa Kavanagh is one of the thousands of residents affected. She first learned about lead pipes in homes when she received a brochure from the city last year. She was concered that she had not known about this issue.
“But I was blissfully ignorant before,” she said.
Kavanagh said she is happy the city is dealing with the issue, but she is also upset she will have to pay to solve the problem. She says she is not in a position to do that at the moment.
“This house is old and leaky,” she said. “I’ve got to deal with those kinds of problems too.”
Ottawa homes draw their water from mains which run through city-owned property. Pipes feed off these mains, crossing property lines and entering private homes. It is these offshoot pipes in homes that are made of lead and affect the water quality.
Some of these pipes are on city property. It will cost residents between $2,000 and $3,000 to have their pipes replaced.
There are currently 5,000 residents on a list to have their pipes replaced.
But not everyone sees this as a priority or even a necessity.
Weir is not on the list. He has two children and raised them in a home with lead pipes.
“I feel quite comfortable with the fact that their lead exposure is much less than in fact my own was when I was growing up,” he said. “That needs to be taken into consideration.”
Last year, the city mailed 29,000 brochures to inform citizens of the lead pipe problem and to offer solutions. Only 6,400 people replied to the city with questions. Weir said he believes this may be a reflection of how little Ottawa citizens are concerned.
The city plans to continue its information campaign.
Cullen said it is important to remind residents in affected areas of the potential risks of lead in their water. He said not enough people are aware that they should be letting their taps run daily to reduce their exposure to lead. The city recommends running taps for five minutes per day.