F.C.'s Water OK

Citing a special water sampling survey conducted last month, the City's statement concluded, "The data for the City's recent samples shows lead levels well below the 15 parts per billion levels." It said the highest level from the test group of Falls Church City homes surveyed was four parts per billion.

Still, Falls Church City Manager Dan McKeever told the News-Press in a telephone interview yesterday that the City will continue testing in the coming weeks, given the troubling news from neighboring Arlington Tuesday that elevated levels of lead were discovered there.

McKeever said the specific source of the problem causing elevated levels in the region has not yet been identified. In cases where it is suspected of being too high, he said, health officials advise running the tap for 60 seconds before using the water, and that children and pregnant women avoid tap water altogether.

According to the City of Falls Church statement issued Monday, "The City's Public Utilities Division recently collected water samples from about 15 homes for lead testing. These homes are in the same pool of 50 homes that the City has issued in the past for its compliance sampling that is performed every three years in June or July."

It continues, "The homes used for testing were chosen because they were built in the late 1970s, just before the rules on lead content of solder were changed to reduce permissible lead content in the solder. The theory is that these homes would be the most likely to have elevated lead levels out of all the homes in our service area, since the City has no lead services."

"The City recently collected this data in advance of its regularly scheduled June testing to confirm that the City's water lead levels are in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency's standards. The data for the City's recent samples shows lead levels well below the 15 parts per billion levels. EPA regulations specify that the 90th percentile results cannot exceed 15 parts per billion. The highest level from this group of 15 was less than four parts per billion," the statement concluded.