The city of Montreal expects to spend $540 million — more than twice what was originally budgeted — to replace lead pipes that carry water to 69,000 homes, the Montreal Gazette has learned.
The new price tag is 118 per cent higher than the $248-million cost announced in 2007 when Montreal said it would replace the city-owned side of the pipes by 2026, after tap-water tests showed lead levels that exceeded provincial standards.
The lead service pipes carry water from municipal water mains under city streets to inside individual homes. The city is replacing only the portion of the pipes on municipal land.
Montreal’s public-health department says the risk to health is minimal and limited to pregnant women (because of the fetus) and children under 6 years old who live in the homes; they should drink filtered or bottled water.
Montreal’s original estimate was low because the city mistakenly thought it could replace all the pipes at the same time as it replaced water mains and rebuilt roads, city spokesperson Jacques-Alain Lavallée said. That reduces costs because the street is already being excavated.
Instead, the city has found in most cases the houses in question are not on streets scheduled for water main or roadwork, so it has to dig up roads specifically to deal with the lead pipes. That increases costs, Lavallée said.
In 2007, the city expected the lead-pipe work to cost $3,600 per home.
So far, about 9,000 homes have been done at a cost of $50 million — an average of $5,600 each.
For the remaining 60,000, Montreal expects:
— 50,000 to be individual replacements, at $9,000 per home.
— 10,000 to be done as part of water-main projects, at $4,000 per home.
That means the remaining 60,000 homes will cost a total of $490 million.
Under a 2007 agreement with Quebec’s Environment Department, Montreal has until 2026 to remove the pipes. The agreement came after the province lowered the acceptable standard for lead in drinking water by 80 per cent — to 0.01 milligrams per litre from 0.05 milligrams per litre — in 2001.
The homes targeted for lead-pipe replacement showed levels higher than the new standard — but lower than the previous standard.
Between 2007 and 2015, Montreal replaced an average of 1,000 lead service pipes per year. The pace increased last year, with 2,500 done. Another 2,500 are to be completed in 2016.
Beginning next year, the city plans to increase the rate to about 5,000 per year, said Chantal Morissette, director of Montreal’s water department.
But there’s no guarantee all lead pipes will be gone by 2026.
That’s because property owners are not obliged to change the section between their property lines and inside their buildings. If they decide to, they have to pay for the work.
Why is the city spending hundreds of millions of dollars if the risk is minimal and some lead pipes will be left behind?
“We have to follow drinking-water guidelines and the best way to not have any lead at the tap is to remove the lead service line, so we have to do it,” Morissette said, noting that cities around the world have similar programs.
“The public health department says it’s not a huge issue so we can take our time, plan the work and do it at the same time as other (infrastructure) programs.”
A primer on Montreal’s lead pipes
The city of Montreal is spending hundreds of millions of dollars replacing lead water-service pipes that deliver water to homes. Here’s what you need to know:
What’s the problem?
Until 1970, lead pipes were still being installed in water service connections between municipal water mains and residences with fewer than eight units on parts of Montreal Island. Montreal’s public health department says the risk of consuming water in these homes is low and limited to pregnant woman (because of the fetus) and children under 6 years old.
What are the risks?
At low concentrations, lead in water can affect the nervous system and the intellectual development of children under 6 years old because they absorb lead at a greater rate than others. Children in homes with lead pipes may have “blood lead levels slightly higher than the average for Quebec children, but they are lower than the levels of their parents when they were young,” Montreal’s health department says. Thanks to the elimination of lead in gasoline and paint, children’s lead levels have dropped by 95 per cent since 1972 in Quebec. No case of lead poisoning caused by tap water has ever been reported in Montreal, the city says.
How do we know there’s a problem?
It all started in 2004, when a St-Laurent borough resident noticed lead pipes in her under-renovation 1943 home and had her water tested. They revealed lead levels that surpassed provincial standards. In response, the city tested water quality in similar “wartime homes“ (built between 1940 and 1950 for veterans and war-effort workers) around the city. It found that 55 per cent of these homes had excessive lead levels. That prompted the city in 2005 to send warning flyers to residents of about 4,600 wartime homes suggesting pregnant women and children under age 6 drink only filtered or bottled water. A year later, the city tested 1,500 samples in houses and buildings with less than eight units built before 1970 and found that almost half had lead levels that were slightly above provincial standards. In 2007, the city sent letters warning that 75,000 homes on Montreal Island could have high lead levels. In July 2016, it sent out similar notices.
How can I tell if I have lead pipes?
A service pipe, usually made of copper or lead, brings water from municipal water mains under city streets to a valve inside your home from which water is distributed via your plumbing. Find the valve in your building (usually in the basement). Lead pipes are grey and produce a dull thud when tapped with a screwdriver. If you scratch a lead pipe, shiny silver marks are left behind. Copper pipes are reddish-brown and make a ringing sound when tapped.
What is the city doing?
The city plans to eliminate the public part of lead water service connections by 2026. It estimates the problem affected 75,000 homes on Montreal Island, 69,000 of them in the city of Montreal. So far, pipes leading to 9,000 homes in the city of Montreal have been upgraded. It’s unclear how many have been done in Montreal Island suburbs. The city only pays to replace the section on public land (from the water main to your property line). The city’s priority is on replacing pipes toward homes with the highest lead levels — those built between 1940 and 1950. The plan is to update all of those within five years.
Which part of the service connection do I have to cover?
The city of Montreal recommends that building owners change the section of lead pipe on private land. However, building owners are not obliged to. If they decide to replace their pipes, building owners must pay for the section on their property — from the property line to inside the building. The city says that for a building six meters from the property line, the cost would be about $2,000. But that is a rough estimate and owners should get estimates from contractors. To limit excavation costs, owners can wait until the city works on the public side of their connection. The city says it tries to advise residents a year in advance. There is no financial assistance plan for homeowners. This despite the city’s 2007 pledge to get “good deals” for property owners who want to upgrade their pipes. In 2007, an official from the city’s water department said it would cost residents $1,000 to $1,500 to have their side of the service line replaced at the same time as the city was replacing the public section. He strongly advised against using private contractors as it would likely cost up to six times that much. In the end, Montreal decided against allowing property owners to piggyback on the city work, a spokesperson said.
What if I’m a tenant?
Tenants should contact their landlord about checking and, if need be, changing the pipes. But landlords may refuse since replacing them is not mandatory. The city says tenants not satisfied with their landlord’s response can contact the Régie du logement.
Can I get my water tested?
Yes, but you’ll have to pay for it. Several certified labs in the Montreal area can do the tests. It costs about $200 and takes a week. Customers must visit the lab to pick up a bottle and instructions, fill the bottle with water and then return it. A list of certified labs is available on the Quebec Environment Department’s website. The city says it tests water on streets that are scheduled for major water-main or road work, and then tells residents whether or not lead service lines have been found.
Can I do anything besides replacing the pipes?
Pregnant women and parents of children under 6 years old should consider using bottled water or a faucet-mounted or water-pitcher filtration system certified under NSF/ANSI Standard 53, Montreal’s public health department says. This is especially important for infants being fed commercial milk preparations that are reconstituted with water (concentrated or powdered formula). “If this measure is taken, those children’s exposure to any source of lead will be similar to that of other Quebec children,” the department says.
In addition, the city says all Montrealers can reduce their exposure by:
— Drinking bottled or filtered water.
— Letting tap water run for a few minutes, especially if it has not been used for several hours. That’s because some lead may dissolve in water that remains stagnant.
— Using cold water for cooking food and preparing drinks.
— Regularly cleaning aerators (the mesh screens at the end of your water faucets).
Which parts of Montreal have lead service lines?
Lead water service lines are found in most Montreal boroughs and in these suburbs: Côte-St-Luc, Hampstead, Montréal-Est, Montreal West, Town of Mount Royal and Westmount. There are no lead water service connections in St-Léonard, Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Île-Bizard-Sainte-Geneviève boroughs. These suburbs are also lead-free: Baie-D’Urfé, Beaconsfield, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Dorval, Kirkland, Pointe-Claire, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue and Senneville.
