Families seeking solutions:  Expedited lead line replacement; Clear mapping of lead affected areas;

Comprehensive testing of all D.C. schools, libraries, recreation centers, and day care facilities; Free safe-water products; Public outreach, and Full disclosure!!

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WATER FOR D.C. KIDS --  Families seeking clean water solutions  now!! for children of the D.C. Community!

Water for D.C. Kids.org is an entirely volunteer organized effort run by parents of preschool aged children.  This effort 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 day care facilites; free safe-water products for the indigent; 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!! 

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 17, 2004  Capitol Hill community meeting with WASA.

February 11, 2004 WASA D.C. public schools' water to be tested for lead contaminated water during the weekend of

February 10, 2004.  Oversight hearings, Water and Sewer Authority 12:30 - 6 pm. WASA is set to test the water in all 167 of the city's public schools on Saturday February 14, 2004.  Read more here.

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)