Filters Working In Newark; Bottled Water Will Continue: Officials

NEWARK, NJ — Those free water filters Newark began handing out last year to combat lead contamination? They’re likely working after all – despite federal warnings to the contrary, officials say.

On Monday, Newark officials released preliminary findings from a recent round of testing at hundreds of local homes in the Pequannock water service area, where residents have been using home filters and bottled water for months.

When used in combination with flushing – running the water after long periods of rest – results showed that 99 percent of the filters issued by the city reduce lead to less than 10 parts-per-billion, which is below the EPA action level of 15 parts-per-billion, officials said.

The recent round of testing seems to contradict an earlier warning from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which cautioned in August that the free filters – one of the city’s main weapons in the war against lead contamination – may not be “reliably effective.”

EPA officials recommended that residents in the Pequannock area use bottled water until more testing could be done.

• See related article: Feds Say Use Bottled Water In Newark, Filters Unreliable

The EPA only tested the water in two Newark homes prior to issuing their August warning, which prompted city officials to launch their follow-up study. Partnering with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the EPA, city researchers collected over 1,700 samples from hundreds of homes with lead service lines, the suspected cause of the lead contamination.

The preliminary report will be finalized in the coming weeks, Newark officials said.

For now, residents can have a “high degree of confidence” drinking city tap water if they use a PUR filter distributed by the city as instructed and flush their water before filtering, Newark officials said.

Read a “fact sheet” on the City of Newark’s Filter Reliability Study preliminary results.

“The tests we have undertaken on our water filters show that when used properly they are doing their job to protect our residents from the risks of lead,” Mayor Ras Baraka said. “Throughout every step in this process, we have put Newark residents first and will continue to do so.”

Baraka said he hopes Newark will “be a model for the rest of the nation” as it attempts to replace about 18,000 lead service lines in the city at no cost to homeowners – including residential customers directly billed by Newark in Hillside and Belleville.

• See related article: Newark Replacing Lead Pipes In Homes; 800 Done, 17000 To Go

Governor Phil Murphy called Monday’s preliminary test results “encouraging.” He said officials are relieved to know that there is no widespread failure of filters issued by the City of Newark, but added that aging water infrastructure is a state and national problem that “demands leadership at every level of government.”

• See related article: No State Of Emergency For Newark’s Water Crisis, Gov. Murphy Says

On Monday, Murphy also announced that the NJDEP has committed $1 million to fund a community assistance program that will help the City of Newark to recruit, train and mobilize a team that will install water filters, educate residents on proper filter use and collect water samples.

The new program will be co-led by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Environmental Justice and the City of Newark, and will include a strong base of volunteers from community, faith-based, and philanthropic organizations who have sought ways to assist Newark’s residents, Murphy said.

The DEP and the City of Newark are expected to develop more details about the program in the coming weeks.

The city will continue to make bottled water available to affected residents in the Pequannock service area as the new program ramps up, officials said.

• See related article: Will Newark Get $100M For Lead Water Crisis? It's Up To Trump

Some environmentalists said that even with the filters working as expected, the levels of lead in Newark are still too high, especially for children, who are more vulnerable.

Lead levels in Newark’s water supply tested at 52 parts per billion between January 1 and June 30. These are the highest levels ever recorded in Newark, an increase from 48 parts per billion during the last six months of 2018, according to the New Jersey Sierra Club.

“Is the glass half empty or full?” Director Jeff Tittel questioned. “It still has too much lead in it for drinking. Given all of the sources of lead impacting children, 10 ppb is still extremely high.”

“We are doing too little too late,” Tittel added.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), around 30,000 at-risk Newark residents living in the eastern part of the city have been left without access to safe water under the current bottled water program.

"For years, Newark has failed to properly treat its water to prevent lead from leaching and flaking off from pipes, plumbing, and fixtures into residents’ tap water," the NRDC wrote earlier this week. "At the same time, city and state officials denied the crisis, and promised residents that the water was safe to drink."

The NRDC continued:

"Despite these clear risks, Newark officials continue to assure residents in the eastern part of the city that their water is 'unaffected' and that they are not impacted by the crisis. But just because levels in the western part of the city are off the charts does not mean Newark can disregard elevated lead levels in the east, where residents—especially pregnant women and kids—also face serious health risks."

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