HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-04-01; Lead Sampling of Drinking Water at Magnolia Elementary School; Gomez, PazTo the members of the:
CITY COUNCIL
ACM _:L.CA ✓ CC
Date 4\i\,q CM ✓ COO /
April 1, 2019
To:
From:
Council Memorandum
Via: Elaine Lu key, Chief Operations Officer ·
{cityof
Carlsbad
Re:
Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council
Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Publi~orks
Lead Sampling of Drinking Water at Mag o ia Elementary School
This memorandum provides information regarding a study by California Public Interest
Research Group (CALPIRG) on lead in schools' drinking water.
Background
In 2017, California Water Boards' Division of Drinking Water (DDW) in collaboration with the
California Department of Education, took the initiative to begin testing for lead in drinking
water a~ all public K-12 schools. In early 2017, DDW issued amendments to the domestic water
supply permits of approximately 1,200 community water systems, requiring these public
agencies to assist public schools that request sampling for lead. The public agency was required
to sample at up to five locations per school, provide technical guidance to the school if a sample
was above the action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) and report all results to the DDW.
To further safeguard water quality in California's K-12 public schools, California Assembly Bill
(AB) 746 was published on Oct. 12, 2017, and became effective Jan. 1, 2018. AB 746 requires
public agencies with community water systems to test lead levels by July 1, 2019, in drinking
water at all California public K-12 school sites that were constructed before Jan. 1, 2010.
Discussion
In compliance with AB 746 requirements, Carlsbad Municipal Water District (CMWD) tested
drinking water at 13 schools in Carlsbad, which included Magnolia Elementary School, in the
spring of 2017. The samples were analyzed in accordance with U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) standards by an independent laboratory, Test America. The results of CMWD's
testing of Magnolia Elementary School drinking water on March 28, 2017, along with the action
levels set by EPA for lead, are shown in the table on the next page. Because different reports
use different units of measure and to avoid confusion, three different units of equivalent
measurement are shown in the table as milligrams per liter (mg/L) or parts per million (ppm) or
ppb.
Public Works Branch
Faraday Center 1635 Faraday Avenue I Carlsbad, CA 92008 I 760-602-2730
Memo ID #2019027
Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council
April 1, 2019
Page 2
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· School Sample #1 Sample#2 sample#3
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_cs
Magnolia 0.0011 mg/L None 0.0012 mg/L Elementary Detected
Magnolia 0.0011 ppm None 0.0012 ppm Elementary Detected
Magnolia 1.1 ppb None 1.2 ppb Elementary Detected
=
S_ampi~#4 Sample#S EPA Action: -~ '=
~ Level
~
0.0013 mg/L 0.0057 mg/L b.015 mg/L
0.0013 ppm 0.0057 ppm b.015 ppm
1.3 ppb 5.7 ppb 15.0 ppb
Since the CALPIRG website reports and maps all results greater than 5 ppb, it shows Magnolia
Elementary School in red because the Sample #5 results were 5.7 ppb. The action level for lead
in drinking water, set by EPA in the Lead and Copper Rule, is 15 ppb. All of the samples taken at
City of Carlsbad schools, in the spring of 2017, were below the EPA action level and required no
further action.
cc: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Celia Brewer, City Attorney
Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works
Vicki Quiram, Utilities Director
Amanda Guy, Deputy City Attorney