WATER FOR D.C. KIDS HOME:

July 2004:  City agrees to ambitious lead pipe replacement program!!!

See D.C.'s Lead Test Results through January, compiled by the Washington Post 

(To view, you may have to register with the Washington Post on-line service, which is free of charge)

Blood Lead Testing by the D.C. Department of Health.  See the schedule.

Orthphosphates to be added to D.C.'s water system to mitigate lead leaching problem

PROBLEM:  

THE FULL EXTENT OF THE WATER CRISIS CONTINUES TO UNFOLD!

WASA, the Dept of Health and EPA knew but failed to act!!

4/30 Retesting Finds Lead Levels High At D.C. Schools, Closing Down 43 Sinks

3/23  Water filter distribution expected by April 10th.

March 25      Lead in Soil, Dust of Children Testing with Excessive Lead Levels

3/19  2 Area School Districts Restrict Water Use while D.C. does the opposite inspite of tests showing 9 schools with high lead levels

News!!! 3/14 3% of D.C. Children Tested Have High Lead Levels; Call for Broader Screening  

3/12 11 Children, more than half not in lead service line homes, have elevated levels of lead 

SOLUTION: 

THE NEED TO PROTECT ALL D.C. MOTHERS AND KIDS IS CLEAR!! Speak Out!!

Tell the Mayor to close the public schools' drinking fountains just as 2 other area Districts have!!

Call Rep. Tom Davis via the Capitol switchboard at (202)225-3121.

RESIDENTS, SUPPORTERS CAN DO, AND DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!  Read about the new proposal to pay for D.C. residents' replacement of private lead pipes

Please Act Now and Send an Email to Urge Clean Water Solutions for All D.C. Kids!

Items of interest:

See Where You Can Buy Private Water Testing Kits

Apartment dwellers: See newest unanswered question

Thurs. March 4:  Blood and Water:  The Long Search for the Source of A Baby's Lead Poisoning

March 2: City promises filters for daycare centers and some homes; See the EPA Action Plan

News Feb. 26  High lead levels found in water at 9 D.C. schools

Pregnant Women and Children Under 6 in lead-line serviced households should not drink unfiltered tap water!

Water for D.C. Kids.org is an entirely volunteer-organized effort run by parents of preschool aged children.  This initiative is bringing together information and solutions of parents and caregivers to safeguard the health of infants, pregnant women, and children of the D.C. community.  We are working for:  expedited lead line replacement; clear mapping of lead affected areas; testing of all D.C. schools, libraries, recreation centers, and child care facilities; taxpayer rebates and free safe-water products for the indigent; financial assistance for private lead pipes, plumbing replacement; public outreach, full disclosure, including clear maps of affected areas!!  Agree with all of these ideas or just a few?  Add yours to our own and send an email now to the D.C. Council, who oversee the D.C. Water Authority!!  Latest:  WASA WASA avoided lead line replacement.  WASA publishes scheduled lead line replacement and provides lead service maps. High Lead Levels Hurt Developing Children.

ISSUE SUMMARY:  Water samples drawn from some 4,000 D.C. residences last summer exceed the lead limit of 15 ppb, an actionable threshold level established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.  Reports indicate that D.C. Water and Sewer Authority has been aware of the problem of elevated lead levels since at least 2002. The number of residents, particularly children, affected by lead levels is unknown as is the cause of the contamination problem.  As officials seek answers, parents and caregivers want clean water alternatives now for D.C.'s children.

Community News!! 

February 26 and March 2 Community Meetings with WASA and DOH  6:30-8:30 p.m.

BACKGROUND: One theory to explain the lead problem is that contaminants have formed a scale in public lead lines, and have corroded lead pipes, causing the lead to leach into the water and lead levels to spike.  The corrosion may have occurred as a result of the use of a new chemical that WASA has been using to treat the water, whose source -- the Potomac River, has long been criticized as undesirable by environmental experts and advocates.  There are some 23,000 water service lines for residential customers that are made of lead, out of 130,000 in total.  Public lead lines principally service older single-family homes.  What must the city now do about lead lines?  The EPA requires a replacement of the pipes at a rate of 7 percent annually, at an estimated cost of $10 million annually.  (Source:  Washington Post, Water in D.C. Exceeds EPA Lead Limit Saturday January 31, 2004).

Kids and Lead:  While the Jury Is Out, Kids Need Clean Water Alternatives!

Of particular concern to many Washington residents is the impact that lead poisoning can have on children under age 6, unborn children through their pregnant mothers, and infants through formula mixtures and breast milk.

In February 4, 2004 D.C. Council oversight hearings, Dr. Jerome Paulson, a Washington-based pediatrician who co-directs the Mid Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment, lead poisoning is a public health problem -- with poisoning from lead paint posing the greatest danger to children.  

Here are useful highlights from the testimony of Dr. Paulson, who is an expert on effects of lead in kids:

Lead is a cumulative neurotoxin in children; small amounts build up and have the potential to cause brain damage.  Children drink more water per pound per day than adults; the absorb a larger proportion of lead than do adults and lead has the greatest potential for dame in the immature rain; prior to birth and in the first few year of birth  Also at risk are the offspring of pregnant women.  The risk is related to how much builds in the body The effects range from attention deficit to language problems.  The effects are irreversible.  There is disagreement about the levels that cause damage in children.  Dr. Paulson has recommended criteria for testing.  (See Source, Dr. Jerome Paulson, Lead in Water in District of Columbia  www.health-e-kids.org)