No lead here. Rock Hill trumpets safe drinking water

This isn’t Flint, the Rock Hill City Council was told Monday.

In response to national news about the water crisis in the Michigan city – where lead-contaminated drinking water has prompted a state of emergency and calls for the governor’s resignation – and recent reports of high lead levels in drinking water in some parts of South Carolina, including some sources in York County, Rock Hill officials took time this week to not only reassure city residents their water is safe, but even celebrate local water’s quality.

“We’ve recently heard concerns from Rock Hill residents about the quality of their drinking water due to the problems in Flint,” a staff report in Monday’s City Council agenda said, before listing information that “should address questions from residents about the safety of Rock Hill’s drinking water.”

The now notorious problems with Flint’s water system, where residents were exposed to dangerously high levels of lead, were caused after the city stopped buying treated water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department in April 2014 and began treating water from the Flint River. The river water turned out to be more corrosive, causing lead to leach into the water from old piping.

Rock Hill’s water sources and infrastructure are of a much higher quality, staff members say. Lead levels in Lake Wylie and the Catawba River, which supply the city with its drinking water, are one-sixth the “level of concern” set by the EPA. The city’s distribution system also doesn’t include any of the lead piping that affected Flint, although some older portions may contain lead joints, fittings or solders, staff members say. Some older homes may also contain lead in their plumbing.

But Rock Hill adds a “corrosion inhibitor” to its water during the treatment process, creating a thin film along pipe walls that stosp iron, lead or copper from leaching into drinking water. The average piping material in the city’s water system is 34 years old, and the city spends $1.5 million a year replacing aging or undersized water pipes.

“We’ve read about water quality issues around the country,” said Rock Hill Mayor Doug Echols. “Our water system is outstanding. The quality is very high.”

Closer to home, testing by Carolina Water Service, which serves some unincorporated portions of York County, uncovered high lead levels earlier this month in the systems serving River Hills in Lake Wylie and the Foxwood subdivision of Fort Mill, prompting an angry reaction from local officials. In all, 3,500 customers were affected, and Carolina Water Service is now required to test the water more frequently for lead and other contaminants.

In constrast, Rock Hill touted a water quality excellence award from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. The Rock Hill water filter plant have received such distinction 10 years in a row. Rock Hill also won a water flouridation quality award received in 2014 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Our staff works 24/7 so the water in Rock Hill and the surrounding areas is the best it can be,” said Susan Featherstone, superintendent at the filter plant that processes 36 million gallons per day.

Some individual city employees were recognized Monday. Gary McManus was named the 2015 and 2013 water operator of the year by the Catawba Water District, which also includes Cherokee, Chester, Lancaster and Union counties. Dianne Espey was named the laboratory analyst of the year by the Catawba District in 2015, and was the state’s analyst of the year in 2008.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 9:16 PM with the headline "No lead here. Rock Hill trumpets safe drinking water."