On a recent episode of Talking Under Water, a water industry podcast, one of the topics of discussion was the findings of elevated lead levels in the drinking water of a pair of Chicago suburbs by researchers at Virginia Tech. That conversation begins around the 21:30 mark of the podcast—and is notable partially because, along with reporting on the water industry, two of the podcast hosts are also residents of Chicago.
Amy McIntosh, Managing Editor of Water Quality Products, says on the podcast:
“In Chicago, we always hear how great our drinking water is. And when it leaves the plant it very well may be. But Chicago was one of the last cities—one of the last major cities at least—to stop installing lead service lines when the lead and copper rule was enacted. So they were pretty much installing lead service lines until they were legally not allowed to anymore. Especially in some of these older neighborhoods and suburbs, there’s still a lot of lead service lines in and around Chicago.”
While more testing and results are expected to determine the scope and severity of lead contamination in Chicago, you can listen to the podcast to hear more about the recent findings and the hosts personal thoughts on the potential of lead in their city’s drinking water.
