To: Rural water districts and other systems with PVC pipe

From: Elmer Ronnebaum, Kansas Rural Water Association

Subject: Reports of PVC leaching from rural water pipeline materials

Date: April 30, 1998

Reports of PVC leaching/contamination of public water supply systems have headlined recent news media. KRWA has received a number of calls from major Kansas newspapers. And although we have attempted to answer questions straight-forwardly, the resulting articles have not always accurately portrayed the comments provided to the reporters. I am sending this report because of your potential interest in providing a response to customers or others with questions.

KDHE is developing a schedule to test the rwd's and other public water systems that they "suspect" of potentially having this problem.

Since the discovery of the contamination in Russell County, there's a much heightened concern that the problem may be more widespread than anticipated.

The problem stems from vinyl chloride monomer -- the raw material used to manufacture the resin called polyvinyl chloride. The resin is combined with other materials and used to manufacture PVC pipe. In the mid 1970s, it was discovered that plant workers exposed to extremely high levels of the monomer over a long period of time could develop a rare form of liver cancer when the resin was inhaled.

When this was discovered, the entire PVC manufacturing process was changed to minimize that exposure. To make sure that citizens are not exposed to unsafe levels of the monomer in drinking water, the EPA has the limit over one year to not average above 2 parts per billion in drinking water. This limit includes a number of safety factors and conservative assumptions that allow EPA to take action before potential health effects might occur.

EPA sets very strict standards for water quality to make sure potential problems are identified before they become serious. In this case, EPA's Maximum Contaminant Level assumes that an adult male would have to drink two liters (about half a gallon) of water every day for 70 years before it would pose a health risk to one person in 10,000 population. Because of the changes that took place in the 1970s, PVC pipe has also changed. As a result, the amount of "residual" monomer is many times lower than it was for pipe manufactured prior to 1977.

What's being done? KDHE and EPA and the vinyl institute are working closely on this situation and will continue to do so. Additional tests will be conducted on all suspect systems. Systems can also take additional tests and submit for analysis to a private lab. The cost is approximately $100 per sample. Generally, the problem has only shown up on dead-end, small-diameter lines where there has been low flow and when water temperatures are 50 degrees F or higher.

What should systems tell their customers? Well, first that there is no cause for alarm because this problem IS NOT an immediate health concern and second, that the state will be conducting tests on system which may potentially have the problem. If your system decides to test, the testing should be completed between July 1 and Sept. 30 during warm weather. Watch for more information in the next issue of The Kansas Lifeline and check KRWA'sPVC Web site for updates.