City of Brandon Launches Lead Water Services Strategy

June 21, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brandon, MB – With approval from Brandon City Council, the City of Brandon will move forward with a multi-pronged response plan to address the ongoing existence of lead water service connections in the community and their relation to elevated lead concentrations in tap water in some Brandon homes.

A City of Brandon Lead Water Services Strategy has been developed to address issues precipitating from a draft provincial study released in 2013, which indicated that in some older Brandon homes where lead water service connections were present, lead concentration levels in tap water were found to be in excess of current national drinking water guidelines of 0.01 milligrams per litre.

The City of Brandon continues to stress to residents and the wider public that Brandon’s drinking water supply leaving the City’s water treatment system continues to be safe and meets the provincial standards for lead concentrations, and the issue is strictly that of older individual service hook-ups in specific areas of Brandon. A map of areas with the potential for lead service hook-ups to exist based on the age of the home is available here.

“The issue of lead service connections existing on both the public right-of-way and on private property is not unique to the City of Brandon. It is an issue that pervades most urban centres across Canada and the United States,” stressed City of Brandon Director of Engineering Services & Water Resources Patrick Pulak. “However, our City Council has recognized that planning in both the short-term and long-term is necessary to ensure we are doing all we can as a municipality to inform our residents of the issue and help mitigate potential health risks in our community.”

One of the Lead Water Service Strategy’s foremost short-term strategies will be the implementation of a water filter rebate program for all Brandon properties that are either identified to have lead service connections or that test for lead at levels higher than national drinking water guidelines. The program will include a one-time cash rebate of up to $100.00 to properties that meet the program’s yet-to-be-finalized criteria.

Details of this program will be contained within a targeted communication package sent out from the City of Brandon in late-July, which will be delivered to properties where the potential for lead services exists based on the age of the property. Program details will also be available on the City of Brandon website at that time.

Pulak added that just as important as the City of Brandon’s efforts to inform and assist the public on the issue of lead services connections will be the community’s response to and cooperation with the City’s strategy.

“What we need the public to understand is that it is extremely difficult for us to know exactly what exists below the ground for water services on private property, so we really are asking our residents, if you receive a communication in the mail from us, pay attention to it and take the identified steps to follow up,” Pulak said.

Other forthcoming components of the City of Brandon Lead Water Services Strategy include proposed changes in existing municipal policy to encourage more residents to take advantage of the current lead service replacement cost-sharing program, and the investigation of various lead-leaching mitigation strategies for implementation at either individual property sites or at the water treatment source.

More information on the City of Brandon’s existing lead water service public awareness program can be found at http://www.brandon.ca/water-treatment/lead-water-services-information.