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RICHMOND — Elevated levels of copper were reported in the drinking water of three homes in Richmond, pushing city leaders to work with the state to come up with ways to bring it back down to safer levels.
“We tested 20 different locations. And we do them random throughout the town, all different locations,” Mayor Jeff Young said. “Last year, we were notified by the state that a few of the tests that we sent in were a little bit high on copper.”
While the copper seepage came in just above acceptable levels, Young said the city is working with an engineering firm and the Division of Water Quality to come up with a way to reduce the corrosion in the pipes.
Young said the city water supply otherwise tested clean. He said the copper contamination appears to be coming from older copper pipes in the homes.
“Right now we know it’s in limited locations. We’re doing additional testing to find out just how many,” Young said.
Young says homeowners living in areas where the test results came in at actionable levels were notified within 30 days of the testing. The rest of the city received notices along with a recent city newsletter. The contamination through corrosion of copper pipes can potentially happen in any home that has the copper pipes.
“There are cases where copper becomes enough of an issue where they need to replace the lines,” Young said. “A lot of homes that are remodeled are changed out so they don’t have those.”
Young is hopeful that it won’t get to that point in Richmond. For now, the city is asking homeowners who have the older copper pipes to use only cold water for drinking and preparing food, and to let the tap run for 10 to 15 seconds before using the water.
The state Division of Water Quality has a list of certified water testing laboratories for homeowners who are concerned about their drinking water.
