Posted by Brighton McConnell | Oct 3, 2022 | Health, UNC

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to reflect the latest testing recommendations and availability for UNC campus community members.

After initial testing at the start of the fall semester, the presence of lead in some water fixtures at UNC has led the university to conduct widespread assessment of its water quality.

Three water fountains in the historic Wilson Library initially returned tests with noticeable levels of the chemical in late August, prompting UNC to shut down the fixtures and begin testing similar ones across campus. Since then, several other fountains and sinks at the university have similarly returned test with lead detection.

Lead in drinking water is typically attributed to three sources: lead pipes, lead solder and lead brass fittings. If plumbing materials are corroded, lead can enter the water near the exit from the fixture, although this does not impact other pipes in a building.

Blake Hodge, the communications specialist the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA), said the issue is localized to the various fixtures on campus and the broader region’s water quality is not at risk. While OWASA is supporting the university in their sampling efforts, he said sampling of water leaving the Jones Ferry Road treatment plant and in homes around the service area is coming back clear of lead.

“We certainly understand that seeing these repeated results can be concerning for the community,” said Hodge, “so we want to assure everybody that the water we are providing is meeting all state and federal regulations.”

Hodge said lead often enters the water not from its distribution source, but from plumbing materials in fixtures or infrastructure, like pipes, lead solder and lead brass fittings. Whenever water sits in a fixture or pipe for an extended period of time, he said there is a chance the chemical will leech from the item into the water. While it takes a significant amount of lead to be ingested to cause health problems, the Environmental Protection Agency states there is no safe exposure to the toxic metal in water and exposure can cause health problems. The Centers for Disease Control also have a group of people considered “high risk” for falling ill due to lead exposure.

UNC says that anyone in the “high risk” category, as well as people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or work in the affected buildings, may want to consider being tested for the lead levels in their blood. After initially prioritizing those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, the university now has health tests for lead available to all faculty, staff and students who have used the affected buildings. Faculty and staff who are seeking testing should contact the University Employee Occupational Health Clinic, while students and post-doctoral fellows should call Campus Health.

Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz told Chapelboro on September 29 that while the addressing of these infrastructure and water quality issues is going to be a long and “evolving process,” he assured the campus community that “we’ve got the best people working on it.”

“There’s a lot of work that’s been done over the past few weeks,” said Guskiewicz. “We’re pleased that those individuals who have been tested, there’s been no detectable levels found [in them] and we continue to test the actual drinking fountains and water in these buildings.”

As part of its response, UNC’s department of Environment, Health and Safety established a web page tracking the lead contamination alerts shared to the campus community. The drinking fountains listed at the buildings have been taken out of service while the university works to improve the quality. UNC said sinks with detectable levels of lead will not be shut off for washing hands, but will have signage around them urging people to not drink from the sink.

Below is a comprehensive list of which UNC buildings the university says have returned tests with detectable lead, with the specific fixture that failed the test and the date an alert was shared.

For more details and full alerts to the UNC campus community about lead contamination, visit the dedicated web page on the Environment, Health and Safety department’s website. For resources offered to the community by OWASA, visit the agency’s website.

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