STX water

The latest events don't seem to be revelaing anything different from the past several years.  Water out of the plant is fine to drink but agressive to the old pipes.  Old pipes, and in particular repairs to old pipes cause random discoloration/turbidity in the water that has been complained about for years but largely ignored.  At least these problems are finally getting more visibility, for the moment.  Required EPA testing from the distribution pipes likely has been week.    The EPA issued a scathing report on WAPA STT water in 2015.  That report had also questioned the required testing and results.  

The current issues regarding excessive lead and copper have been attributed to sections of water pipe at ends of the distribution having little usage/water flow and therefore allowing lead and copper to leach into standing water from old pipe fittings.  Seems like a plausible explanation.   As long as water moves through the pipes at a reasonable rate the concentratoin of any lead and copper leaching from the old pipe and fittings will typically be minimal.  Seems like WAPA needs to be doing more regular flushing in areas of low usage or to get rid of the orange/brown water events.  I've actually noticed less occurences of the orange/brown water in our supply lately with the extra attention.  And we've seen  some really bad slugs come through failry often.  No question we have a lot of miles of old pipe that must be replaced.

New pipes or old pipes, I'm glad my water comes from the sky.

I can trust myself to ensure its potable.