Please note the Village's drinking supply is not contaminated and is not having an effect on all household plumbing. A few points to clarify:
• Flushing your tap water (letting it run cold) will ensure it is safe to drink (after which time you may use it for drinking, including making tea, coffee, and formula, cooking and teeth brushing).
• Bathing and showering are safe, so long as you're not consuming unflushed tap water.
• 20 homes were sampled (17 in the Village of Pemberton and 3 in Pemberton North), 12 came back with elevated levels of lead in a range of 2 to 6 times the Maximum Acceptable Concentration, due to low pH water stagnating in the pipes of some homes. Samples that were taken from taps that were less frequently used (e.g. laundry room) had higher levels of contamination.
• We are doing more sampling to verify the results early next week.
• The Village undertook this assessment to determine which pH conditioning system to install, as the Village has been aware of low pH for some time (which in and of itself is not a health concern).
• Once this pH conditioning system is installed the water will no longer interact with plumbing in this way.
• We will let you know as soon as possible when this new system will be up and running. We will continue to provide information as it becomes available.
Please feel free to contact us at: 604-894-6135