The Environmental Protection Agency recently okay an almost $ 700 million plan to remove lead weewee pipe in the Denver , Colorado area . The agency has call the local water public utility ’s effort an “ representative ” to other utility around the commonwealth calculate to replace their old lead water lines , the Associated Press reported .
The pushing to quickly replace old Pb water lines was a response to the high levels of lead encounter in Denver ’s imbibing water about 10 ago . In 2020 , metropolis officials promise to replace between 64,000 and 84,000 lead organ pipe in 15 years . Since then , local public utility company Denver Water has dug up 15,000 lead pipes , which is about 18 % to 23 % of the lead parentage in the city , The Denverite report .
“ Denver Water ’s approach to tackling atomic number 82 in drinking water system has been singular and an exercise for other communities across the country , ” EPA Regional Administrator KC Beckersaid in a statement . “ Thanks to young funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law the utility ’s customers can expect an even truehearted lead service line replacement schedule delivering wellness protections for children and adults across the Denver area . ”
A Denver Water crew works to replace a lead water service line installed in 1927 with a new copper one at a private home on 25 March 2025, in Denver.Photo: Brittany Peterson (AP)
The city ’s urgency is justified — pencil lead is a neurolysin and even abject levels of pic are causal agency for public health concern . And though it can harm anyone , it is particularly dangerous for develop children and infants , because “ growing bodies engross more steer than adults do and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead , ” according tothe EPA . The overexposure leads tointellectual disabilitiesand behavior disorders that could have been prevent . Denver Water ’s efforts have yielded some results , even though the utility is still working on removing lead urine lines . The in vogue H2O test have read that lead level in the city ’s urine have now dropped below the federal limit for exposure , grant to the Associated Press . The city now on a regular basis tests water for booster cable , and the water utility has commit household free water filter while it stay supervene upon lead lines with copper pipes , accord to The Denverite .
Denver is not the only U.S. city that is grappling with a atomic number 82 problem . Just this September , an investigating from The Guardian found that one in 20 tap piss tests in Chicago had lead levels at or above U.S. politics limit . This meant1,000 out of the 24,000 householdstested had pencil lead levels higher than advocate . The EPA says adults should only beexposed to 15 share per billion ( ppb)of lede and that there is no safe picture layer for children .
But unlike Denver , Chicago has been slow to meet its promise of replacing lead water line . More than two year after metropolis officials promised to lead off removing lead pipes , only 0.5 % of the more than 400,000 lead service lines in the metropolis were replace , WTTW Chicago reportedthis September .
Drinking waterLeadPhysical science
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