Chicago needs to get the lead out a lot faster than it has done so far.

The city has the nation’s most serious problem with lead in drinking water. No level of lead in water is safe. Even at low levels, lead can harm kidneys and developing brains, leading to lower IQs, hearing loss and learning and behavior issues.

Lead in the water can come from old lead water service lines that connect buildings to city water mains, which are often made of iron. It can also come from lead-containing fixtures. It’s a widespread hazard because Chicago required lead pipes until 1986.

Yet, as Brett Chase reported in the Dec. 4 Sun-Times, the city has replaced only 280 of an estimated 390,000 lead service lines over the past two years. Tests can detect the presence of lead, but because the amount of lead getting into the water goes up and down, tests must be done more than once.

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”The current pace of replacement is disappointing,” Howard Learner, president and executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center, told us. “Even doubling that would not be a sufficient response.”

Full article here>

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