City and state officials in Newark, New Jersey, are telling residents to continue using the thousands of water filters provided in an effort to mitigate elevated levels of lead in the city’s drinking water.
Previous reports had shown that the filters weren’t working as well as expected, but preliminary results released this week on a new round of tests show they’re 97% effective — 99% effective if water was flushed for five minutes prior to testing.
According to Gov. Phil Murphy, 1,700 samples were taken from more than 300 homes.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, which filed a lawsuit against the city over elevated lead levels in its drinking water, released a statement saying its encouraged by the results.
“We say ‘trust, but verify,’” says Erik Olson, senior strategic director of Health and Food at NRDC. “Anything less than full transparency will breed further distrust and skepticism. There also is an urgent need to ensure that all filters are properly installed, maintained, and operated, with in-person instructions.”
Flint to Install New Meters to Address Water Losses
The city council of Flint, Michigan, could soon approve an approximately $3 million improvement plan for its water system that includes the installation of new residential water meters and an upgraded water quality monitoring system.
These latest projects in the city are part of a $120 million federal and state loan granted to Flint in 2017.
The council had previously approved the purchase of 27,000 remote-controlled water meters from Badger Water at a cost of $7 million. The installation will cost $2.2 million. The meters will provide the city with an accurate read of ongoing water losses, helping it collect revenue on the estimated 50% of lost water in the system it’s currently not collecting revenue on.
Ohio WWTP Holds Annual Clean Water Fest for Thousands of Attendees
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District recently held an open-house tour at the state’s largest water treatment facility — an event called the Clean Water Fest that organizers expected thousands of people to attend.
The event featured more than 70 educational exhibits, a bike tour, food trucks, free ice cream and popcorn, and social media contests throughout the day.
Below is a video the district shared on Facebook the day of the event as they prepared for attendees to begin arriving:
