Newmarket's drinking water of the 'highest quality': Mayor

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 11, 2019
Teresa Latchford

Newmarket residents have nothing to worry about when it comes to the town’s drinking water, according to Mayor John Taylor.

More than 120 journalists from nine universities and 10 media organizations, including the Toronto Star and the Institute for Investigative Journalism, conducted a year-long investigation collecting test results that measure exposure to lead in 11 Canadian cities and found hundreds of thousands of Canadians are consuming tap water laced with high levels of lead due to aging infrastructure.

Out of 12,000 tests conducted since 2014, 33 per cent exceeded the national safety guideline of five parts per billion.

Reporters also spread out over 32 cities and towns from coast-to-coast and tested the water of willing residents living in older homes. Using the accepted standards and submitting samples to accredited labs, it was found that 39 per cent of the samples exceeded the current federal guideline.

While media reports have sparked chatter on local social media groups and phone calls to the town’s customer service department questioning the safety of local drinking water, Newmarket isn’t one of the communities highlighted in the investigative reports. In 2019 testing, the town’s lead levels were less than 0.0005 milligrams per litre.

“Residents have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to Newmarket’s drinking water,” Taylor said. “We do not have any lead pipes in the town’s water distribution system.”

He described the town’s asset replacement program as robust, and funding from reserves has helped the town replace any aging infrastructure over the years, including lead pipes.

It is the first thing that is checked when construction or restoration projects are taken on in the town, especially on historical buildings, he added.

The Town of Newmarket conducts approximately 66 routine regulatory sampling events each year, which equates to approximately 1,460 regulatory samples taken annually.

The town also swabs water pipes regularly and an annual water quality report is presented to council.

“I encourage residents to consume municipal water as much as possible since it is of the highest quality and doesn’t require a disposable bottle,” he added.

However, this is only municipal pipes and homeowners whose home construction predates 1975, the year the use of lead pipes in construction was banned, should have their own water tested.

Schools were also pegged for having high levels of lead in their water due to aging infrastructure in the investigation but the York Region District School Board said it is vigilant with monitoring and taking action to remediate issues when they arise.

The public board introduced a new water testing process a couple years ago, where water is tested at each school on an annual basis, said school board spokesperson Christina Choo-Hum.

Each school has to meet the requirements laid out by Ontario’s environment and climate change ministry.

If levels exceed the safety guideline, the school board works with public health to mitigate the issue by flushing pipes, removing a particular fixture and providing an alternative water source until the test levels are clear, Choo-Hum said.

For tips on what you can do to find out if you have lead in your tap water click here and scroll to the section on York Region.