City of Wetaskiwin Lead Management Program

What is this program all about?

The City of Wetaskiwin is a leader in the area of lead management. The City has the support of City Council as well as policies and plans in place to help eliminate all lead water service lines in the city.

The City of Wetaskiwin—and all municipalities across Canada—have been mandated by Health Canada to conform to stricter lead limits in municipal drinking water. As a result, the City must increase water sampling from households across the City before the end of September 2021. The samples can only be taken between May to September, so it is the City's goal to perform some of the required tests in 2020 by the end of September, and the rest between May to September 2021.

The City is seeking the cooperation of its residents to allow a City technician to come into their home to take a small water sample from either their kitchen or bathroom tap and also to briefly inspect their water service line on either side of their water meter. This should only take between 15-20 minutes. Residents will receive the results of the water testing from their homes which will let them know if they have higher than recommended lead levels in their drinking water.

*Results will be shared with the residents as soon as possible after receiving results back from the third-party testing lab*

Background:

Prior to March 2019, acceptable maximum lead levels in municipal drinking water were set at 10 PPB, and compliance had to be met at the distribution point. After March 2019, Health Canada lowered the maximum acceptable lead levels in municipal drinking water by half to 5 PPB, and compliance must now be met at the customer's tap. *where PPB=Parts Per Billion, or micrograms/litre*