It was announced during a recent Hampshire Village Board meeting that no lead was detected during a study of the town’s residential drinking water.
“Forty residences were tested,” Village President Jeffrey Magnussen said. “No lead was found in the water samples.”
“There has been a lot of news lately regarding lead contamination in drinking water around the country and state,” said Lori Lyons, village finance director. “Hampshire has tested and verified that there is no measurable lead in the water wells that are the source of drinking water for the village. Since the Environmental Protection Agency mandated lead testing which began in 1993, the village has never violated EPA standards for lead in the water. The village employs state-of-the-art treatment plants to assure the quality of the drinking water and has certified drinking water operators on staff that oversees water treatment and production 365 days a year.”
“The EPA identified some homes in the village to test because those homes were constructed when lead was commonly used in plumbing construction,” Lyons added. “Additional homes were selected to bring the sample size to 40. The Public Works Department set up each of the participants with a sampling bottle and directions on how to secure a sample of their water. Bottles were then collected and sent for testing. Lead was not detected at any of the 40 sample locations.”
The village will conduct two more rounds of EPA-mandated lead testing in 2017.
Denise Moran is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.