MASON CITY — President Biden last week set a ten-year deadline for cities across the nation to replace lead pipes in their water distribution systems. The announcement comes a decade after the water crisis in Flint Michigan where water was contaminated with lead.
Mason City’s mayor Bill Schickel says the city has tried to stay ahead of the game and recently has been evaluating the status of its water system, with a quarter of the pipes still being lead. “For the last 15 months we’ve really been working on it, specifically evaluating which of our pipes are lead, which are not. There are about 13,000 service pipes within Mason City to businesses and homes, and we estimate about 25% of those are lead pipes. We are in the process of confirming that and we’ve submitted that information to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.”
Schickel says the city has been aggressive in finding and replacing lead pipes. “We’ve worked on replacing those as we find those. Over the years, we’ve been aggressive about replacing those. About 25%, and that might be a little bit of a high number, but about 25% of the property owners, that is their responsibility at this point. As this becomes an issue and with the Biden Administration putting a ten-year deadline on it, it’s a possibility there could be additional resources there.”
Schickel says the water distribution system is something the city takes very seriously. “We have been addressing this, we will continue to address it. Another way that we address it — it’s very important that the pH balance in our water supply be of the proper balance. It’s tested every day, because if that gets off, that can corrode pipes, but we check that every day to make sure that’s 100% true.”
Lead pipes often impact low-income urban areas the most and in older industrial cities such as Chicago and Milwaukee here in the Midwest.
Schickel made his comments during his appearance on the “Ask the Mayor” podcast this week. Click here to find the podcast
Stay Connected with North Iowa Now
Add North Iowa Now as a preferred source on Google to see more local news, weather, and sports in your feed.
Follow us on Facebook for breaking news, severe weather alerts, sports, and more.
