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Philadelphia Water Department Offers Tips To Avoid The Risks Of Lead Plumbing

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some 50-to-60,000 homes in Philadelphia probably have lead pipes, according to testimony from the Water Department at a city council hearing on Monday. There are precautions you can take if you think your home may be among them.

Homes likely to have lead pipes are those built before 1950. The Water Department guards against lead leaching into water in those homes by treating its water supply with an anti-corrosive.

READ: Philadelphia City Council To Hold Water Quality Hearings

Its testing shows that five percent of homes still showed elevated lead levels. But water commissioner Debra McCarty told a council joint committee there's a simple step to avoid drinking water with lead in it.

"Run the water for a couple minutes to get nice, good, fresh water from our water mains," McCarty says she does that in her own older home. She also urges homeowners to let the water department test their water.

Not only is it free, the department plans to offer a bill reduction for homeowners who join the testing program.

 

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