Lead has been detected in the taps at several older, City of Port Alberni-owned facilities.
In response to a recent announcement that Pacific Rim School District (SD70) had discovered higher than acceptable levels of lead in some of its taps, the city conducted water testing in a few of its own buildings.
According to results, several taps within city facilities have lead levels exceeding 0.005 mg/L (five parts per billion), which is the maximum allowable concentration of lead in water as set by Health Canada.
While lead was banned from use in new construction in Canada in 1975, older buildings may still have plumbing that contains lead, especially if they have not undergone significant upgrades or renovations.
City CAO Mike Fox says the findings are indicative of a larger trend within the community.
"With Port Alberni’s older building stock, we want to take this opportunity to encourage households that pre-date 1975 to undertake private water testing," Fox said.
To date, 68 water samples have been taken at 34 water sources in city-owned facilities. Of those samples, 14 were found to have lead levels exceeding 0.005 mg/L prior to a three-minute flush. After a three-minute flush, four samples were found to have lead levels exceeding 0.005 mg/L. These samples came from the Echo Centre (in the museum kitchen), the fire hall (at the bottle fill station), Industrial Heritage Centre (in the woodworking shop kitchen) and public works building (in the shop washroom fountain).
The city says it has posted signage at all affected locations or stopped water supply. Filtration systems are on order for installation for some facilities.
“While these findings are concerning, they are being addressed, and quickly,” said Fox. "The health and well- being of our staff and citizens are our top priority, and as such we are taking all necessary actions to address this matter promptly."
The city says it is also undertaking additional testing throughout all of its facilities and says it will work with affected stakeholder groups to ensure drinking water at all city-owned facilities meets guidelines.
