Durham Region calls for volunteers for Lead Monitoring Program

Whitby, Ontario – The Region of Durham Works Department requires volunteers, from Ajax, Courtice, Oshawa, Pickering and Whitby (including Brooklin), from both residential and non-residential sectors, to allow water samples to be taken from their internal plumbing, as part of the Region’s Lead Monitoring Program. This water sampling program was implemented to comply with the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Regulation 170/03.

The following conditions must be met to become a part of the program:

• Must be a residential, industrial, commercial or institutional facility, constructed prior to 1990 with lead water service lines, copper pipes with lead solder, or brass faucets or fittings containing lead. (By 1990, the Ontario drinking water quality standard for lead became 0.01 mg of lead per litre of water, thus making homes built in 1990, or later, unlikely to have lead in pipes, service lines, solder or joints.)
  
  
• Must be on the municipal water supply system.
  
  
• The main water tap, used for drinking and cooking purposes, must not be exposed to treatment devices such as a water softener or filtering device.
  
  
• Water must have 30 to 35 minutes of standing time in plumbing prior to taking samples.

Participants in this program will have their residence or business visited by Regional staff, at pre-arranged times, to take water samples from the tap. The samples will be analyzed for lead, and volunteers will receive a copy of the analytical results. There will be no charge for this service.

To participate in the program, or for more information, contact the Region of Durham Works Department at LeadMonitoring@durham.ca. Please be prepared to provide the following information: name, contact details, address, age of building, type of plumbing and any treatment devices being used. Please note: a limited number of participants will be chosen to take part in this program.

The Region of Durham adheres to all provincial drinking water standards, thereby providing clean, safe drinking water. Although there are no lead watermains in the municipal water supply system, testing is completed routinely to ensure the water is of high quality.

Water Quality Reports, and facts about lead in drinking water, are available online at durham.ca.

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