In Washington State, lead in drinking water comes primarily from materials and components used in household plumbing. The more time water has been sitting in pipes, the more dissolved metals, such as lead, it may contain.

Exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all age groups. 
Infants and children can have decreases in IQ and attention span. Lead exposure can lead to new learning and behavior problems or exacerbate existing learning and behavior problems. The children of women who are exposed to lead before or during pregnancy can have increased risk of these adverse health effects. Adults can have increased risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney or nervous system problems.

Our Water: 

The City of Wenatchee monitors for lead and copper following the Department of Health requirements.  The size of our system dictates that 30 homes are tested every 3 years.  The homes selected for testing are the most vulnerable to lead and copper corrosion.  Our last round of sampling was in September 2020.  All samples were well below the action level for both lead and copper.

To help reduce potential exposure to lead:

• For any drinking water tap that has not been used for 6 hours or more, flush water through the tap until the water is noticeably colder before using for drinking or cooking. You can use the flushed water for watering plants, washing dishes, or general cleaning.
• If you live in older housing build before the mid-1940s, it is recommended that you run your tap at least 2 minutes after the water has sat in the pipes for 6 hours or more.
  
• Only use water from the cold-water tap for drinking, cooking, and especially for making baby formula. Hot water is likely to contain higher levels of lead.
• Clean the screens and aerators in faucets frequently to remove captured particles.
• Use only “lead free” piping and materials for plumbing when building or remodeling.

Other potential sources of lead:

•  Soil - especially in areas that were previously orchards, lead dust can be tracked indoors.
• Paint - Older homes may have lead paint.  Lead paint was banned from commercial use in 1978.  
  It is especially a problem when the paint is peeling, cracked, or chipped and during renovations.

Information on lead in drinking water is available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or online.  The Washington State Department of Health has additional information on how to reduce your exposure to lead in drinking water on their web site.

Lead and Copper Rule:

Using lead pipes or lead in plumbing materials was prohibited in 1986.  The lead pipes installed prior to that date still provide one of the largest sources of lead in drinking water across the country.  Brass or bronze faucets and fixtures installed before 1986 also have the potential to contaminate drinking water with lead.  

To protect human health, by reducing the exposure to lead and copper in drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first published the Drinking Water Lead and Copper Rule in 1991.   The EPA recently revised the Lead and Copper Rule focusing on removing lead service lines (the pipes that connect the home or business to the water main in the road) and testing drinking water in schools.   The EPA is in the process of collecting additional input, the revisions are planned to take effect on December 16, 2021.

It was not standard practice to install lead service lines in the City of Wenatchee. The oldest record of a service line connection in Wenatchee is from 1903.   However, lead parts (lead goosenecks) were sometimes used with galvanized pipes until around the 1930’s when the City switched to installing copper service lines.  After the switch to copper any time lead parts were found they were replaced.  Many were replaced with a short section of copper pipe in the 1930’s and 1940’s when the City replaced wooden water mains with cast iron water mains.  Now the City uses CTS poly (plastic) pipe when a new service line is installed.