A third of Cedar Rapids water tests exceed lead guideline for children

About a third of the annual samplings of Cedar Rapids drinking water show lead concentrations that exceed a recommended limit for children, according to an analysis by The Gazette.

The city tests water at 53 locations each year to comply with federal requirements and to ensure it is sufficiently limiting the amount of lead that leaches from old pipes.

Lead is a dangerous neurotoxin that can cause permanent brain damage if it is consumed.

A recent survey of Cedar Rapids’ water service lines found that up to 17 percent might contain lead. Those lines are jointly owned by the city and water customers.

The city uses minerals in its treated drinking water to contain the lead, and tests in the past five years show that it has been effective.

At least 90 percent of those annual tests revealed concentrations of less than 15 parts per billion, which means the city is not required to take further action to limit the contamination.

But between 32 percent and 45 percent of the annual tests had concentrations that exceeded 1 part per billion — a limit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to curb lead toxicity in children.

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"I'm not terribly surprised by that," said David Cwiertny, director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination at the University of Iowa. "We have a bunch of incidence of lead in lines and lead in homes."

In Iowa City, about half of its 30 water tests had concentrations of at least 1 part per billion, according to test data from 2023.

No amount of lead is safe to consume, but federal regulators have attempted to balance its public health threat with the feasibility of lowering the contamination.

Resident vigilance required

Cedar Rapids notifies residents of their test results, but those residents must pursue further help if there are high concentrations.

"We will do follow-up testing if they request it," said Roy Hesemann, the city's utilities director. "It's not a requirement."

The notification letter says: "If you would like a more precise determination of where the source of lead is, please feel free to call the number or email with the information provided at the end of this letter."

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Five of the city’s tests in the past five years have exceeded the federal "action level" of 15 parts per billion, according to data obtained by The Gazette.

The highest was in 2020, when tests showed a concentration of 132 parts per billion in the drinking water of a home. The city does not know what caused lead to spike in the water, but a test the next year revealed a concentration of 2 parts per billion.

Testing at the site ceased the next year "because the resident was no longer able to participate," the city said.

Another site that had lead concentrations that increased for four straight years — culminating in a reading of about 23 parts per billion in 2023 — was not tested the next year because "the residents were no longer interested in participating in the sampling program," said Amy Knudsen, a water quality specialist for the city.

The city seeks participants for the tests from different parts of the city to ensure the sampling reflects the entire city.

City officials declined to release the specific locations of the Cedar Rapids test sites due to privacy concerns.

The sources of contamination are varied. They could be the lead service pipes that were plumbed underground years ago. They could be faucets, plumbing fixtures or pipe solder inside the building.

"It's hard to generalize," Cwiertny said.

In one instance in Iowa City, a home that had been tested periodically for more than a decade suddenly had a very high lead concentration, said Jonathan Durst, the city's water superintendent.

"We said, 'We need to come over and help you find out what's going on,'" Durst said.

The culprit was a new, ornate faucet.

A renewed focus

Last year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a new requirement that seeks to eliminate all lead-containing pipes in community water supplies by 2037.

A recent statewide survey found that about 5 percent of city service lines in Iowa — which connect main lines to homes and other buildings — are made of lead or otherwise might be contaminated by it and need to be replaced, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

It's possible that another 14 percent of the total lines might have lead, but their status is not yet known.

Water utilities will have about three years to determine their status and make plans for replacement.

The initiative was spurred, in part, by a public health crisis in Flint, Michigan about a decade ago, when the city switched its water source and didn't adequately protect against corrosion. That exposed more than 100,000 people to elevated lead concentrations.

The EPA has said replacing the service lines will not eliminate the threat of lead but will reduce the risk.

Comments: (319) 368-8541; jared.strong@thegazette.com