No lead pipes in King Township: Mayor says tap water safe to drink

Township's drinking water hasn't had an adverse lead test results in years

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 13, 2019
Shelia Wang

Residents in King Township can rest assured that their tap water is within safe lead levels.

The drinking water in the township has had no adverse lead test results in many years, Mayor Steve Pellegrini said Nov. 6, putting residents’ mind at rest as a Canada-wide investigation about lead-tainted water pipes puts drinking water safety in the national spotlight.

The mayor said King conducts testing of the water systems on a quarterly basis, including testing for heavy elements like lead.

No lead exceedance has been found in King's water systems, according to the most recent annual water quality reports -- required by Ontario -- currently available on the township's website.

The national safety guideline for lead is 5 parts per billion (ppb), according to the Tainted Water series published in The Toronto Star.

The year-long investigation 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 5 ppb.

King is less likely to have this type of issue, the mayor said.

“King’s system is relatively young compared to other systems that have been in operation for more than a century, like Toronto’s,” Pellegrini said.

Historically, Toronto’s lead levels were among the highest in Canada, with as many as half of tests exceeding the provincial lead standard in 2008.

Shortly after, the city began adding chemicals to the water to reduce corrosion in pipes. Today, less than two per cent of samples exceed.

In King, there are four water distribution systems, serving King City, Nobleton, Schomberg and Ansnorveldt respectively, Pellegrini said, noting the township purchased its drinking water from York Region.

Meanwhile, King doesn’t treat its water and only distributes the treated water that the region sources from the lake-based water and groundwater wells in the King area, according to township’s operational plan.

“I’m also happy to say that there are no leads pipes on King Township’s side of the water infrastructure system,” the mayor said.

If a resident wants to test their homes for lead pipes, they will be directed to a private laboratory. If a residence has lead pipes, the replacement costs would be borne by the homeowner, Pellegrini said.

King's spokesperson told King Connection on Nov. 11 that the township hasn't received any questions from the residents about lead in the water.

Lead pipes in new construction were banned in 1975 when the national building code was amended. But old lead service lines owned by municipalities continue to feed water into residences and businesses, and there is no comprehensive inventory, according to The Star.

Similarly, the number of Canadian homes that have lead plumbing is unknown; 500,000 is an estimate.