Is the water safe to drink in Lake Forest Park?
Monday, April 25, 2016
Lake Forest Park is served by four water districts - three of which buy their water from Seattle. Here are their statements on the safety of the drinking water pertaining to lead levels.
Northshore Utility District
Our water source, supplied from the Seattle Public Utilities system, does not contain lead.
However, lead can leach into water from home plumbing systems built with lead-based solder, brass fixtures, or some types of old zinc coatings used on galvanized pipes and fittings. Both Seattle and Tacoma have much older infrastructure than we have at Northshore Utility District.
The cities of Tacoma and Seattle suspect lead-related issues associated with older galvanized piping systems and lead “gooseneck” fittings. Northshore Utility District uses plastic service lines and has replaced nearly all older galvanized lines with plastic. We estimate that only a very small fraction of our existing water service lines - perhaps as few as 200 out of the 22,000 – are not plastic. Northshore has no record of any “gooseneck” leaded connections being installed within the Districts system, which triggered the Tacoma and Seattle concerns.
Seattle Public Utilities
After two days of extensive testing in five Seattle homes, Seattle Public Utilities confirms the city’s water continues to be safe to drink.
If Seattle customers are interested in learning what kind of material — copper, plastic or galvanized steel — the service line that supplies their homes with drinking water is made of, they can use a map tool. The map tool was previously created by SPU for another purpose and allows the public to research utility infrastructure.
North City Water District
Although North City Water District does get our water from Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), it comes to us via “transmission mains” (large pipes) which do not contain lead. North City Water District’s transmission and distribution system / service lines are all lead free.
Lake Forest Park Water District
The District’s water main replacement program has eliminated all galvanized iron water main from the distribution system. The District also has no record of any galvanized iron service lines or any lead “goosenecks” between the water main and the meter. This has also been confirmed from field staff as none of these types of pipe has been found during water main replacement projects or during repairs and general maintenance. See previous article
After two days of extensive testing in five Seattle homes, Seattle Public Utilities confirms the city’s water continues to be safe to drink.
If Seattle customers are interested in learning what kind of material — copper, plastic or galvanized steel — the service line that supplies their homes with drinking water is made of, they can use a map tool. The map tool was previously created by SPU for another purpose and allows the public to research utility infrastructure.
North City Water District
Although North City Water District does get our water from Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), it comes to us via “transmission mains” (large pipes) which do not contain lead. North City Water District’s transmission and distribution system / service lines are all lead free.
Lake Forest Park Water District
The District’s water main replacement program has eliminated all galvanized iron water main from the distribution system. The District also has no record of any galvanized iron service lines or any lead “goosenecks” between the water main and the meter. This has also been confirmed from field staff as none of these types of pipe has been found during water main replacement projects or during repairs and general maintenance. See previous article
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