3/12/2018 What is Potable Water? Water Issues and Cross- - PDF document

3/12/2018 What is Potable Water? Water Issues and Cross- Connection Problems in the • Water that is safe to drink United States and Beyond • Water that is pleasing appearance and odor • Water that has a pleasant taste Presented By: Sean Cleary • It is not pure water IAPMO Backflow Prevention Institute • It is not distilled water IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute As the World Population Grow More How Much Potable Water is Available? Potable Water is Needed • Less than three percent of the water on our planet is considered potable water that is safe to drink. • Of that three percent, almost half is frozen into the worlds existing glaciers. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute Clean Safe Drinking Water is a Basic Water is Being Wasted Human Right The United States suffers about 240,000 According to the World Health Organization the water main breaks lack of access to clean annually and the water and sanitation country loses kills children at a rate approximately 6 billion equivalent of a jumbo gallons a day, enough jet crashing every ten water to supply the hours. entire state of Water should never be California. wasted. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute 1

3/12/2018 Who Has Jurisdiction in Requiring the The Safe Drinking Water Act Protection of our Water Systems? • In the 1970’s it became clear to many that pollution of our environment was becoming an large issue • Is it the Federal Government? • The US EPA was created • Is it the State Government? • The Clean Water Act was passed • Is it the Water Supplier? • The Safe Drinking Water Act was passed • Is it the Local Health Department? • The clean up began and awareness of the importance of • Is it another agency? pollution control was heightened • Is it no one? IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute The Safe Drinking Water Act The Safe Drinking Water Act • Amendments were made in 1986 which included increased • Originally, SDWA focused primarily on treatment as the monitoring for unregulated contaminants, greater enforcement means of providing safe drinking water at the tap. The standards, increased protection of wellheads, and changes to 1996 amendments greatly enhanced the existing law by the lead-content of plumbing materials including prohibiting use recognizing source water protection, operator training, of lead solders, flux and pipes in new installations and repairs of funding for water system improvements, and public public water systems and drinking water plumbing connected to information as important components of safe drinking such systems. A warning was required on any solder containing water. This approach ensures the quality of drinking more than .2 percent lead. water by protecting it from source to tap. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute The Safe Drinking Water Act The Safe Drinking Water Act • The United States Congress has revised the definition • The most direct oversight of water systems is conducted of “lead free” in the Safe Drinking Water Act with respect by state drinking water programs. States can apply to to the wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing US EPA for “primacy,” the authority to implement SDWA fittings, and fixtures. As of the effective date of January within their jurisdictions, if they can show that they will 4, 2014, all pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fitting, and adopt standards at least as stringent as US EPA’s and fixtures must meet a 0.25% weighted average lead make sure water systems meet these standards. All content. The Congressional Act was dated January 5, states and territories, except Wyoming and the District 2010 and was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011 with the effective date of of Columbia, have received primacy. January 4, 2014. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute 2

3/12/2018 Ground Zero of Water Issues Flint Water Issues IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute Potable Water? Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act • The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has primary enforcement authority in Michigan for the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act under the legislative authority of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute Lea ead in n the he History ry of of Plumbing The Affects of Lead on Humans • Too much lead can damage various systems of • The word plumber or plumbing actually the body. Lead is especially harmful to the comes from the Roman times. The Latin developing brains of fetuses and young children word for lead is plumbum. In the Roman and to pregnant women. High blood lead levels in times, plumbers were actually those who children can cause consequences which may be irreversible including learning disabilities, worked with lead, which was used on water behavioral problems, and mental retardation. At supply and drain piping. Plumbers were very high levels, lead can cause convulsions, considered an expert working with the coma and death. material lead, or a plumbarius. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute 3

3/12/2018 Lead in the Water System Roman Times Lead Water Piping • Some major U.S. cities still have lead piping bringing water from the utilities to consumers. The dissolved oxygen in the water combines with the metal at the surface (copper, zinc or lead) to form a metal oxide. This oxidation layer develops through time to coat lead piping. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute Lead Water Service Lead to Brass Wipe Joint IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute Is There a Weak Link in Your System? Lead in the Water System • It is essential to the nation's health that lead piping systems be upgraded, a task estimated by the EPA in 2003 to cost $276.8 billion and take more than 20 years achieve. For now the best protection for the U.S. public is the ongoing testing and monitoring of what makes up our drinking water. We need to know the amount of lead and other minerals that actually leach into the water. That imformation is critical. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute 4

3/12/2018 Lead in the Water System What Happened in Flint? • Utilities at times add lime or other chemicals to prevent • To put it simply each and every branch of government lead from getting into drinking water. When water failed in it responsibility. chemistry is controlled, it prevents dangerous levels of • Local, State, and Federal elected and appointed officials lead from entering the water system from the lead failed in protecting the public. There employees also supply or service piping. share in the blame for this totally preventable situation. • It is now the time to fix the situation and ensure it cannot • Nearly all homes built prior to the 1980’s still have lead happen again. solder connecting copper pipes. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute What Created the Problem? Flint River • The short answer is Money. • In a cost saving move the city switched from purchasing water from the Detroit Water System, now known as the Great Lakes Water Authority which takes its water from Lake Huron to using water from the Flint River. • This occurred in April of 2014. This is when things begin to fall apart. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute Who Was In Charge of Flint? The Players • Since 2011 the Flint had four different state • Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA). This group was building a new pipeline from Lake Huron to Flint. It was appointed Emergency Managers. formed in 2011. • Each one played a part in these decisions. • Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD). The • The Mayor and City Council also played a part in Group who has supplied water to Flint since 1967. the switch although the final decision rested with • The water switch from DWSD was to be a temporary the state and its appointed Emergency Manager. measure until the KWA Pipeline was finished in 2016. IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute IAPMO-Backflow Prevention Institute 5