Running the water is a good away to get lead-at-the-tap levels down. It is recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a short-term public health solution to known lead-in-water problems. Sadly, WASA has used it to hide the truth about how much lead we are getting at our taps. Since 2005, WASA has assured District residents that our water is safe to drink based on a monitoring method that requires homeowners to run their water for 10 minutes the night before sampling for lead analysis.
Do you usually run your water for 10 minutes before you go to bed? This practice -- called "pre-flushing" -- is known to hide lead problems at the tap that might occur under normal usage.
In September 2008, EPA determined that pre-flushing "goes against the intent" of the federal monitoring rules, but they did not explicitly ban the practice. After public criticism of WASA's pre-flushing, WASA did not abandon the flawed practice. They just lowered it to 2 minutes, and called it a "recommendation" rather than an "instruction."
Data from Virginia Tech suggests that running the water for 2 minutes the night before sampling has practically the same effect on lead levels as running it for 10 minutes: it hides problems. Pre-flushing makes WASA's compliance with federal regulations meaningless. Even worse, it leads to false assurances about the safety of the District's drinking water.
Tell WASA to stop hiding the truth about lead at the tap by abandoning pre-flushing once and for all!
