Pretty much every State Health Agency has specific rules governing the frequency and volume of lead in water testing and copper in water testing that local (municipal) water departments must follow — or face stiff penalties often accompanied by large fines which continue to accrue until the local water department comes into compliance.
As an example, in the State of Georgia, local water departments must conduct lead in water and copper in water testing in a select number of customer homes every three years.
The Polk County Water Authority will be sending out letters this week to homeowners it wants to participate in its water-testing program, according to an authority official.
Authority Manager Jack Damron said the effort is to get back into compliance with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
Polk County is required to submit water samples from inside homes of randomly selected properties every three years. The testing is to monitor lead and copper, according to Damron.
The county missed the last testing period. However, Damron said no fine was issued.
“Our position is the state never sent us the bottles to use,” Damron said, referring to the specific sampling bottles needed.
Damron, who has been in his position for about two months, said the issue is one of testing compliance and not of water pollution.
“If we believed there was a more serious issue with water itself, we would have sent out a different notice,” he said. ( source )
As always we applaud any government agency’s efforts to ensure citizens have safe, clean drinking water. In this case, though, we give only half a clap.
Why only half a clap? Simple: The excuse of ‘the state never sent us the bottles to use’ does not hold much water. Pardon the pun.
Officials in Polk County KNEW testing needed to get done and KNEW, we imagine, the phone number of the State Agency responsible for distributing the required test vessels for the lead and copper testing. For them to say they should absorb no blame for the testing not getting done rubs us the wrong way.
Thankfully (for them) none of us live in Polk County, Georgia… and thankfully the average person has easy access to copper in water test kits and lead in water test kits.
