Experts and documents point toward the corrosivity of Bordentown’s water, potentially contributing to its recent
lead in water issues
Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Burlington County Times: In July 2017, the Bordentown City Water Department, which serves approximately 15,000 people in the city and neighboring Bordentown Township, made a big switch.It began pumping water from a newly drilled well near the Crosswicks Creek, and by the next month the well was supplying the majority of the water in the system, which totals about 1.5 million gallons a day.The change was a major part of a years-long, multi-million dollar effort by the city to address high levels of radionuclides in its drinking water. Since 2009, radium — a naturally occurring contaminant — had been found several times in the city’s drinking water above safety standards put in place by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The new well is deeper, and lower in radionuclides.But within months of making the water change last year, the city had a new problem on its hands: the toxic metal lead. Water samples taken in November 2017 from 74 homes across the two towns showed that 16 of them, or 21 percent, had lead levels above the EPA’s 15 parts per billion action (ppb) level. The overall rating was 30 ppb, double the EPA’s limit.The system tested again in the first half of 2018, and found 11 of 63 homes above the action level. The overall rating was 43 ppb, or nearly triple the EPA limit.Yet a year earlier, Bordentown didn’t have a lead issue. In the fall of 2016, 30 homes were tested, and none came back above even 5 ppb. The highest amount found was just 1.6 ppb in a home on West Constitution Drive in Bordentown Township. The home was tested again in November 2017 and 3 ppb were found. By May 2018, however, lead in the home’s water increased to 15.4 ppb.Read the full storyLike this? Click to receive free updates