Bureau of Water - Franklin Park Subdivision
In its Nov. 16 story, 10 Major Miscues, The State references their earlier stories about lead in drinking water in the Franklin Park subdivision of Richland County. The story said, “But DHEC failed to ensure the system’s operator installed safeguards. Only after The State newspaper unraveled the story in 2005 were pollution controls installed that lowered lead levels.”
Once again, The State's cherry-picking of tidbits of information resulted in misleading reporting that truly unravels when the full story is told.
First, allow us to provide a little background to put the issue in context.
Franklin Park is a small community water system of about 50 homes in the Hopkins area of Richland County. Water service has been provided by Piney Grove Utilities, a privately owned company.
The water comes from a well with typical water quality for that area. The well water contains no lead. The water is low in pH, alkalinity, and hardness, which makes the water corrosive. Lead that may appear in water samples comes from the plumbing in homes with lead pipes, solder or brass fixtures – not from the water itself.
As the water sits in the pipes and fixtures of a home, lead might dissolve into the water. When a faucet at the house is opened, the water that might have lead comes out and is flushed away. As faucets are used regularly to supply water for drinking, cooking, bathing or other purposes, there is less chance for lead to get into the water and be consumed by the residents.
Neither DHEC nor any water company, public or private, has authority or control over the types of plumbing used in someone’s home. If the water being sent to customer’s homes is corrosive, there are treatments that can be placed on the water to make it less aggressive to pipes and plumbing fixtures.
DHEC tried for many years to have the owner of the utility put a treatment process in place that would help reduce the amount of lead getting into the water through the plumbing in customers homes. When that didn’t happen, DHEC issued enforcement orders requiring the owner to comply with the regulations.
There has been a long and well-documented history of orders against Piney Grove Utilities for poor operation and maintenance, and several violations of the Lead and Copper Rule. After allowing the utility owner every opportunity to voluntarily comply, DHEC took the matter to court seeking a receiver be appointed to run the system.
Since 1994, when South Carolina adopted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s current Lead and Copper Rule, DHEC has analyzed 147 samples for lead in Franklin Park alone. A total of 21 of these samples were above the action level of 15 parts per billion. The lead and copper rule is a 90/10 rule, which allows for up to 10 percent of samples during a sampling period to be above the action level and still be in compliance. Overall, roughly 14-15 percent of the samples exceeded the action level, most by a slight amount.
In addition, our testing is done to deliberately test a worst-case scenario. The samples are taken after the water stands in the household plumbing for at least six hours. This allows time for lead from pipes, solder or fixtures to dissolve into the water.
The customers of Franklin Park were not being continually bombarded by high levels of lead, as claimed by The State, because in nearly every household water did not sit for at least six hours between every use. Even if that were the case, an easy and simple remedy exists. Turning on the faucet and letting the water run for at least 30 seconds to a minute will significantly reduce any amount of lead that may be in the water. That information was shared with the residents.
It is interesting to note that even under the worst case conditions used in testing, at least 85 percent of the water samples taken at Franklin Park did not exceed the federal action level.
Under our laws and regulations, a water system, whether public or private, must be given every opportunity to comply with those requirements. DHEC staff members work with water systems regularly to provide information and guidance that help the utility stay in compliance with the increasingly strict controls so that the utility’s customers can rely on clean, fresh water coming to their homes. Because DHEC has the authority to administer the federal Clean Water Act in South Carolina, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency closely reviews our oversight of the program, including controls over lead. DHEC routinely receives high marks in EPA reviews. In fact, our water program is recognized by the EPA as one of the best in the Southeast and nation.
When a utility consistently fails to meet the standards and controls imposed in its permit, DHEC can take the system’s owner or owners into court to either force compliance by court order or have the court assign another utility or operator to take over the system as a receiver. That way, customers are protected to ensure they will not be left without water.
That process is lengthy and DHEC must prove to the court that every effort has been made to get the utility’s owner or owners to comply with their permit. That’s why cases such as Franklin Park may take years to resolve. It’s not because DHEC doesn’t care about the residents, rather because we must allow the owner every opportunity to do the right thing for their customers.
Under court order in action brought by DHEC, the owner of Piney Grove Utilities gave up control of the Franklin Park Water System. Since August 2005, Richland County has been operating the water system as the court’s receiver. On Oct. 7, 2005 the corrosion control treatment DHEC has long wanted on the system was installed at the well by Richland County to make the water less corrosive to pipes, solder and fixtures. That action has reduced the customer’s exposure to lead from their plumbing. It is our understanding that Richland County intends to incorporate the Franklin Park water system into a larger regional water system that is being planned to serve the Hopkins/Lower Richland area.
We are not aware of any problems with the water system at this time.
For additional information, contact: (803) 898-3432