Lake Mohawk homes that tested high for lead now test low

Six Lake Mohawk homes that initially showed elevated lead levels produced levels within state safety limits when tested a second time.

Township manager Bill Close made the announcement at the Nov. 24 meeting of the Sparta Township Council. When Sparta Water Utility sampled 63 homes in the water system in June, eight returned results above 15 parts per billion, which triggered a 90th percentile action level exceedance. The eight homes were asked to submit confirmation samples in August, and six of those homes returned samples that were compliant with state standards.

“It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances that occurred with the eight samples,” Sparta Township Director of Utilities Phil Spaldi said at the meeting. “It was one of the last things we expected, and we haven’t had the slightest movement.”

The Lake Mohawk water system’s representative sample locations have been tested for lead 1,597 times since 1988, and less than 1 percent of the homes in that time have required retesting.

“When you get those, our director of utilities had some concerns because testing was not consistent with the history of the system,” Close said.

Spaldi said lead is usually leached from residential plumbing, since there aren’t any lead service lines in the system. He said there are 13 points of entry from wells into the water system. While the water may have calcium in some areas, the pH is neutral.

Chlorine is the only disinfectant used in the system. Two entry points are sequestered for manganese.

“It’s not like you can say, ‘those guys fell asleep at the wheel and didn’t put in the chemicals,’” Spaldi said. “There are no chemicals to put in. It’s all naturally occurring water.”

Township health consultant Steve Levison said the water from the well field is not corrosive and shouldn’t leach any lead from interior pipes.

“You have the assurance of knowing the water that comes out of your wells is non-corrosive water, and as long as that chemistry stays as it is, you can stay confident that it is an anomaly.”