In response to inquiries about the educational material which was mailed to residences regarding lead in the drinking water, the city of Somerville has issued this high level recap:

Pipes from water main in the street to the water meter in one’s home
In the City of Somerville there are 449 known homes which have old lead service pipes, which deliver water from the water main in the street to the water meter in your home. This 449 homes are about 2% of the homes in Somerville. The city knows which homes these are. And as a home owner you would know this too, because the city would inform you.

Pipes within your home
Some old homes have lead within the home. It could be in pipes, in the solder used to solder the pipe joints, or both. The assumption is that property owner would test their own homes and know if this is the case.

City infrastructure
There is “no” lead in any of the city infrastructure.

Test results this year
The city is required annually to test the water for lead. A sample number of the 449 homes known to have lead service pipes are tested every year. This year the test results went up a little, which pushed it over the “action level.” If a community is over the “action level” then the city is required to send out education material to all households. This is why you received the pamphlet in the mail.

For the 449 homes which have lead service pipes it is recommended that they do not let their water stand for more than 6 hours. This means typically turning your water on, so it flows, e.g. washing hands in water.

It was assumed the reason the water went over the “action level” this year was due to one of the residents (who participates in the sample test) water sat for a week in their pipes while they were on vacation. They did not let the water flow before they filled the water sample jar.

More information can be found at www.somervillema.gov/leadservice , call 617-625-6600, x5850, email Water@SomervilleMA.gov