Grants urged to remove harmful lead water pipes

A grant-aided scheme to remove harmful lead pipes from the drinking water supply could provide jobs as well as eliminate a public health risk, the Green Party has said.

The party is proposing a scheme similar to the energy efficiency retrofit programme that has boosted employment in the construction sector by grant-aiding householders to insulate their homes and upgrade heating systems.

Forty-two public water supplies tested in the latest Environmental Protection Agency inspections had lead levels that exceeded safety thresholds that will come into effect in December this year.

A number of the breaches are attributed to old lead pipes in the public water mains networks and four county councils are under EPA direction to replace those under their control by December.

A total of four kilometres of lead piping has been identified in counties Cork, Clare, Kerry and Longford and the EPA said work to replace them was either already under way or action plans had been agreed.

But the sources of the other breaches are not so readily identifiable. “It is possible that other lead mains are present but have not yet been identified. For example, such mains may have been laid a long time ago and records may be inadequate to determine the exact location,” the agency said in its annual water quality report.

The other key contributor to the problem, however, is lead in the internal plumbing of private homes where pipes were installed prior to 1970 when the phasing out of lead began.

“Any level of lead should not be in your water supply,” said EPA inspector Darragh Page.

“It does not come from rivers or lakes. It’s not coming from industry and there are no human or natural sources of lead in Ireland, so if there is lead in the water, it’s all coming from the pipe work.”

Putting an exact figure on the number of households affected is difficult but a conservative estimate based on a housing stock of 1.5 million would put around 32,000 at risk.

“We found that 97.8% of samples were compliant, so you could assume that 2% might have lead. You cannot say that for definite, but it’s definitely substantial,” Mr Page said.

He said Dublin city alone was known to have several thousand homes still with internal lead pipes and that situation was replicated across the country.

Ireland is not alone in having legacy issues with lead pipes. The problem is more prevalent in England, Scotland, France and, in particular, the United States.

But unlike Scotland, for example, where there are grants for private householders to replace their pipes with plastic or other alternatives, there are no such incentives here.

Green Party environment spokesman Malcolm Noonan said householders should be offered financial help. “A retrofit programme for lead service pipes should be given serious consideration,” he said.

The Department of the Environment said internal plumbing in privately owned homes was the responsibility of the householder and it did not intend introducing any grant scheme.

Public health specialist Dr Anthony Breslin urged householders who had any doubts to have their pipes checked.

He said the full impact of lead exposure was serious and irreversible neurological disease, but children at the earlier stages could sometimes present with a mild developmental delay and lead should and would be considered a possible cause.

Public awareness about the dangers of lead was high when it began to be removed from paint and petrol, but in the 20 to 30 years since people have become more complacent.

The EPA said the cost and inconvenience of digging up and replacing pipes seemed to discourage some people.

However, there is also inconvenience in being supplied by lead pipes. In one instance, the EPA placed a water restriction notice on the Lappan’s Terrace estate in Little Island, Cork, in 2008 advising residents not to drink the water because of the presence of lead. That restriction remains in place.

Cork County Council said the mains serving the 75 houses was made of iron and caused no problem, but 20-metre pipes ran from the mains to each house and many of these were made of lead.

Only about two metres lay on public ground, however, and a spokesman said it would be of little use replacing that short section if the householders did not replace the remaining 18 metres that lay on their own properties.

“Obviously the council would replace the external part of the service in any case where the household first replaces the part within the curtilage of the dwelling.”

Cllr Noonan said a more proactive approach should be taken in all cases where lead pipes were known to exist even within private households.