See for Yourself! What’s in Your Water? Session 5: Water Testing and Filters

There are a several ways that lead can enter drinking water There are a several ways that lead can enter drinking water. Older homes are more likely to have lead pipes or lead solder that joins pipes together. If water is acidic or corrosive, lead comes out of pipes into the water (called leaching). This is why water systems treat water with corrosion control chemicals that coat the pipes and prevent leaching. Unlike other contaminants, lead is generally coming from within the drinking water delivery system from the pipes, solder, and plumbing fixtures.

Flint Cares Website www.FlintCares.com

Water Testing – What’s Your Question? It’s important to understand what you want to test for before taking a water sample so that you use the correct method. For example, how you take a water sample may differ based on whether you want to know: How much lead is present in the water from pipes in a building (“premise pipes”) How much lead is present in the water city- wide (i.e. flush first, take samples from water mains across the city) Are contaminants other than lead present – like other metals or bacteria. If you want to know how much lead is present in water from pipes in your home or school, you collect water that comes out of the faucet immediately after you turn it on. If you want to know how much lead is present in your service line, you flush the water then take a water sample. If you want to know how much lead is in water city-wide, you’ll take samples from across the city and run the water until you are drawing samples of water from water mains. If you want to test for contaminants other than lead, such as legionella bacteria or a different metal, you may have to collect water differently or send it to a different lab.

Why Sample Your Water? Taking a water sample (i.e. a small portion of water) is the first step in testing water. The water sample will be analyzed in a lab to quantify the amount of lead and help you answer the research question that you are asking. A water sample will give you a snapshot in time. Sampling multiple times allows you to track changes in the water over time. If your home lead level is higher than the federal “action level” of 15 parts per billion, your household becomes eligible for free services to help lower the lead level (e.g. service line replacement, new kitchen & bathroom faucets).

2-Bottle Water Testing Instructions Obtain a test kit and review the directions Use the faucet within 24 hours before, but not in the 6 hours right before, you take the water sample Watch the training video (next slide) Fill the small bottle first, then immediately fill the large bottle without turning off the faucet Complete the paperwork Return the water sample Receive the test results from MDEQ by mail Use the results to take action

Step-by-Step Video About Water Sampling https://flintcares.com/lead-testing/

Holmes’ Water Test Results - Cafeteria Kitchen

Holmes’ Water Test Results – Boys’ Bathroom

Homework: Home Water Test Kit Take home two water test kits. Use one test kit to take a bathroom water sample and the other kit to take a kitchen water sample. Be sure to: Plan ahead by choosing a time to take the water sample when the faucet has not been used for 6 hours. Make sure this works for your whole family and that they know your plan. Use the water collection procedure that we learned today. Fill out the orange paper form that comes in the test kit. Keep your bathroom and kitchen water samples separate. Put the filled water bottles and completed form with the same tracking number into the same Ziploc bag. Bring the completed test kits back to Mr. Strommer’s classroom as soon as possible so that we can send them to the lab to be processed.