“Rest assured the city’s drinking water is safe!” – Cornelia City Manager Dee Anderson
Cornelia city officials are trying to ease people’s concerns over a pamphlet that was distributed regarding lead in the city’s drinking water. The mailout was sent after tests showed the city failed to meet EPA standards.
In a news release issued Monday, Cornelia City Manager Dee Anderson explains that each year the city tests twenty dwellings built before 1986 that are known to have lead and copper piping. The EPA requires that 90% of the samples tested must contain no more than 15 micrograms of lead per liter. The results of this year’s samples showed that only 80% met that threshold, according to Anderson.
Despite that fact, Anderson insists water customers should not be alarmed.
“Rest assured the city’s drinking water is safe!” he says. “If there was an issue with the drinking water quality we would have taken more drastic steps than mailing out a pamphlet on lead in drinking water!”
This is the first time Cornelia’s EPA results have been below 90% in the past thirteen years. Officials say the issue could be the result of an error with the sampling technique or the lab. “We have sampled the dwellings again and are awaiting the updated test results,” says Anderson.
As a result of not meeting the standard, Cornelia will now be required to increase the number of dwellings it tests annually in the future.
Anderson touts the fact that the city has received state awards for the quality of its drinking water for the past eleven years as proof that it’s safe. He urges water customers with questions to contact city hall and to visit the city’s website and social media outlets for updates.
Those who’d like to have their drinking water tested may do so at their own cost. The city included information on two area labs in its press release. Those labs are:
Analytical Services, Inc.
Norcross, GA.
770-734-4200
Cost: $150 for lead and copper
The University of Georgia Soil, Water, and Plant Lab
Athens, GA
706-542-5350
Cost: $35 for lead, $20 for copper
