Halifax Water wants municipality to help homeowners afford replacing lead pipes

A program to help homeowners pay for replacing lead pipes that carry drinking water into their homes may be in the cards if Halifax Water gets its way.

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“It’s not a Flint, Mich., situation here at all,” spokesperson James Campbell said on Thursday, referencing what’s been called a man-made water crisis.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's not a Flint, Mich., situation here at all," spokesperson James Campbell said on Thursday, referencing what's been called <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/flint-water-crisis/">a man-made water crisis</a>.

Properties are connected to water mains with a pipe. The section of the pipe between the water main and the property line is the utility’s responsibility (public side). The section that goes onto the property is the property owner’s responsibility (private side).

Campbell said there are about 2,000 public and 10,000 private sides with lead pipes.

“Leaded water can have cognitive difficulties for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers as well as for young children, so getting lead out of the water system, and out of the paint or any other sources in the house is paramount,” he said.

Halifax Water now only replaces public sides with copper pipes if the adjoining private sides are replaced, too.

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A study from last year for the utility showed that the levels of lead can get higher in the short term at a property if a public side is replaced but the private side isn’t.

“Almost within the first [month], sometimes even three months later, we would see, at worst, the doubling from where they originally were,” said Graham Gangon, lead investigator of the study, which was partly funded by the utility.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Almost within the first [month], sometimes even three months later, we would see, at worst, the doubling from where they originally were," said Graham Gangon, lead investigator of the study, which was partly funded by the utility.

One theory for why the level increases, he said, is the fact that the private side pipe is disturbed during the replacement of the public side pipe.

The takeaway is that both sides need to be replaced to avoid potentially unhealthy water, said Gagnon.

The problem is that it can cost between $3,000-$5,000 for homeowners to replace the private side, according to Campbell.

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Halifax Water is now working with the municipal government to see if there are ways to help people afford that.

“We would have something similar to the Solar City, where the homeowner would replace their side and it would be put on their tax bill, and that would be paid over a number of years,” said Campbell, stressing that these are tentative plans.

The organization is also talking with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to see if a funding program is possible.