University of Iowa researchers will use grant funding from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust to meet growing demand for water testing for lead.
The UI announced in a news release that Get the Lead Out, a statewide initiative that tests private wells and provides testing kits for free for Iowans to check their water, received a $124,353 grant from the trust to increase staff and supplies.
“Families across Iowa deserve straightforward, honest information about their drinking water,” said David Cwiertny, director of the UI Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination, in the release. “Our goal is to collect reliable data to make real progress, so every child in Iowa grows up with safe, lead-free water.”
Grant funding will allow researchers to conduct at least 1,200 more tests over the next year, the release stated, and according to the Get the Lead Out website, the program has led to the testing of 622 homes.
Program staff will also work with high-risk communities, “which may be more exposed to water with elevated lead levels,” the release stated, and residents will receive information about their water quality and ways of reducing lead exposure, such as flushing taps before using water to cook or drink.
The initiative was created in 2019 following findings from researchers that “despite federal monitoring requirements, only about 0.5% of the 1.15 million households connected to public water systems in Iowa were sampled each year,” the release stated. These numbers did not meet requirements of the Environmental Protection Agency Lead and Copper Rule, which the release states requires monitoring of public water systems and action if levels were exceeding limits.
Updated in 2024, the release stated public water utilities must now find and mark lead pipes for replacement in the future, as well as notify residents of any potential risk. Demand for testing kits has increased since this change, which the grant funding will help the initiative address.