No problem with lead in Las Cruces water system
LAS CRUCES - Blessed with water that is naturally hard, and therefore less corrosive, and with an infrastructure system that is smaller and more modern than those in big cities, Las Cruces has never had the problem of lead in its water that has been seen recently in Flint, Michigan, and other cities.
The Lead and Copper Rule, passed in 1991, requires all public water systems to test for lead and copper, and to report exceedingly high amounts. As part of a national report in response to the crisis in Flint, the USA Today Network has compiled a massive database showing exceedance reports from throughout the nation. Some 2,000 water systems serving more than 6 million people have excessive levels of lead, according to the report.
But Las Cruces has never had an exceedance, said Joshua Rosenblatt, regulatory and environmental analyst for the city.
“Were quite lucky to be on such a stable supply where we have very little treatment to do,” Rosenblatt said.
Water systems that rely on surface water such as lakes and rivers typically have to do a lot more treatment than those like Las Cruces that get their water from underground sources, he said. The problems in Flint came from using river water.
“We don’t hardly treat it at all. It already meets drinking water standards. The only thing we do is provide a little chlorination, and that’s to keep the pipes disinfected,” Rosenblatt said. “That’s a blessing compared to other areas.”
Also, the housing boom in Las Cruces came after the 1991 rule change, meaning the city doesn’t have the same infrastructure issues older cities do.
“By the time Las Cruces was booming, that rule was already in place," he said. "PVC (pipe) was cheaper than lead and copper, so we just didn’t have it.”
City Utilities Director Jorge Garcia said there was also a massive effort in the 1990s to replace the lead water pipes that did exist in the city, and that effort continues to this day.
“We’re very different. A lot of parts of the country, their infrastructure is deteriorating and they’re not putting their money back into the ground,” Garcia said. “We are replacing so many roads and streets and utilities, it’s unbelievable. Just look around. When a street gets done, we go and replace those utilities, as a rule.”
Garcia stressed, however, that the city only replaces pipe leading to the water meter. Property owners are responsible for water pipes from the meter to the building or residence. And, in the older parts of town, there are still some lead pipes from the meter, Garcia said.
For that reason, all of the testing that is required by the federal government takes place at the tap, Rosenblatt said. Residents are asked to go for several hours without using any water to allow all contaminants to be collected in the testing sample.
The city conducts tests for lead every three years and reports them, along with tests for other contaminants, in the annual Consumer Confidence Report.
For lead, the action level set by the federal government is 15 parts per billion. The level in Las Cruces, as established by 40 tests taken throughout the city, is 8.6 parts per billion, according to the report. None of the 40 sampled sites exceeded the action level.
The most common complaints about Las Cruces water have to do with discoloration, Garcia said.
“Sometimes we have color in the water. That’s iron and manganese,” he said. “We do have a lot of iron and a lot of manganese in the aquifer here in this area. That’s more of an aesthetic issue.”
Carl Clark, regulatory environment services and technical support administrator for the city, said water conservation efforts have increased issues with discoloration, especially in homes with taps that are seldom used.
“If they have a guest room or bathroom where somebody doesn’t use it, they should still go flush the toilet a couple times,” he said. “If they have an older home there are things they can do to keep the piping fresh throughout the whole house.”
Garcia said they have received a few calls since the water crisis in Flint, and will be posting information on their website to reassure consumers.
The city also has GPS mapping showing the various water lines through town. Anybody living in an older part of town who is concerned about their water pipes can request that samples be taken, Garcia said.
“Let’s say someone is not in the sampling program but they live in the Mesquite District; we can go ahead and do a courtesy sample to see what their levels are,” he said.
Every public drinking water system — even the smallest of the mutual domestics — is required to send exceedance reports to the state, said Allison Scott Majure of the state Environment Department. The reports are collected on the Drinking Water Watch website.
Those living in areas serviced by other water systems should contact their provider if they have any questions. All water systems are required to send out annual reports.
A search through Sun-News archives turned up only one story about an issue with lead in the drinking water.
In July 2003, elevated levels of copper and lead were found in the housing apartment complex of the New Mexico State University campus.
The university was able to remedy the problem by installing filters in the kitchen sinks of the student housing complex, according to a Sun-News story in 2006. NMSU had replaced lead pipes in the Children’s Village area the year earlier, but had no plans to replace other pipes, according to the 2006 article.
NMSU officials said this week that they have continued to replace those filters on an annual basis, and that samples are taken to ensure they are providing the proper protection. Filter replacements are scheduled for the week of spring break.
NMSU has its own system, and is not on the city's water system, Rosenblatt said