It’s possible to ignore contaminated water when the people drinking it live hundreds of kilometres away; it’s a lot harder when that water is flowing down your own throat.
Delta South Independent MLA Vicki Huntington had the water in her legislature office tested and found its level of lead was five and a half times the safe limit for drinking water.
Let’s hope that the findings make her fellow MLAs sit up and take notice. Government agencies were slow to respond to concerns about lead levels in water at four older schools in Prince Rupert. Huntington’s tests are a reminder that with aging buildings, potential problems are widespread.
Lead is a dangerous substance, especially for children. Exposure can cause behavioural problems and learning disabilities.
Lead can be in pipes and in solder. It’s more common in older buildings that were built before 1989, when the plumbing code was changed to restrict the use of lead. It can build up when water sits in pipes, so the schools in Prince Rupert have begun flushing the pipes every morning and installing lead filters on drinking fountains.
Huntington thinks the same should be done at the legislature, which at 120 years is older than just about any school in the province.
Speaker Linda Reid, who is responsible for the legislature building, says it is being done. She said the water is regularly tested and flushed. Filters and water coolers are provided to offices and committee rooms, and cold water lines should be flushed before drinking or cooking.
While Huntington thinks this is a public-health issue that should be tackled by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, Dr. Perry Kendall, the provincial health officer, says it’s not. The Drinking Water Protection Act, he says, makes it the responsibility of building owners — and that includes school districts.
He wants the ministries to remind districts to do water tests as part of their regular inspection routines.
Civil servants and MLAs, like students, are not likely guzzling large amounts of unfiltered water in the course of a day, but safe drinking water is something that everyone in B.C. takes for granted. We can’t assume that someone else is looking after it.
We know that drinking water, such as that supplied by Capital Regional District water services, is tested and has to meet government standards, but after it flows into our homes, schools and businesses, it’s a different matter.
Every authority that is responsible for public buildings should pay attention to what’s coming out of the taps and drinking fountains. As consumers and homeowners, we also should know what’s in our own pipes.
If it’s not government’s job to check what’s in our water glasses, it does have a role in educating us about potential trouble spots, such as lead in older pipes. Should the owners of older houses, apartments and office buildings have their water tested? Some guidance would be welcome.
As Huntington’s tests showed, health hazards can lurk even in buildings that look safe.
