My Water

Important Information About Your Drinking Water

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recently completed an administrative review of Monroe County Water Authority’s (MCWA) compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule. Their review concluded that in 1998, NYSDOH incorrectly approved MCWA’s system’s designation as being optimized for corrosion control. As a result, NYSDOH revoked their previous approval, and issued MCWA a violation of the New York State Sanitary Code for failure to have optimal corrosion control treatment in place. As our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we did (and are doing) to correct this situation.

What does this mean?

Nothing has changed with regard to water quality or lead levels in the samples we collect, and no action is needed. MCWA has operated under the approval granted by NYSDOH since 1998 and has never exceeded the lead Action Level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) since the Lead and Copper Rule was established in 1991. We conduct routine sampling of our water at representative customers’ taps twice a year for lead. The tests continue to show our levels are below the Action Level for lead.

What is being done?

MCWA has a demonstrated history of complying with all regulatory obligations. For more than 30 years, MCWA has been proactively replacing lead water service lines as they are identified in the water distribution system. MCWA’s service area is comprised of several small water systems that, over the years, requested MCWA become their retail water provider. The records from many of these systems are incomplete and the water service material was unknown. MCWA launched an aggressive field investigation program to find and predict where lead service lines may be located, including the use of tools such as vacuum excavation and predictive modeling. MCWA’s goal is to replace its remaining lead water service lines within the next three years.

Additionally, MCWA, in conjunction with the City of Rochester, proactively began a comprehensive corrosion control treatment study in 2022 in anticipation of the recently released Lead and Copper Rule Improvements. This study will identify treatment methods that could help further reduce lead in drinking water. It is anticipated that the study will be completed in the spring of 2026. Once approved, and if recommended, we will add the selected corrosion control technology to our treatment process, which will bring us back into compliance.

What should I do?

Again, the quality of your drinking water has not changed, and no action is needed.

Listed below are steps you can take to reduce your exposure to lead:

• Use only cold water for drinking, cooking, and preparing baby formula. Hot water dissolves lead more quickly.
• Flush your pipes any time water has been unused for more than 4-6 hours. Lead levels are highest when water has been sitting in the pipe. Run your cold water for 3 to 5 minutes to ensure complete flushing.
• Routinely clean faucet screens which can accumulate lead and rust particles.
• Use a water filter that is certified NSF 53 to remove lead. Find out more at www.nsf.org.For more information please visit our webpage at https://www.mcwa.com/my-water/water-quality/lead/

Exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all age groups. Infants and children can have decreases in IQ and attention span. Lead exposure can lead to new learning and behavior problems or exacerbate existing learning and behavior problems. The children of women who are exposed to lead before or during pregnancy can have increased risk of these adverse health effects. Adults can have increased risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney, or nervous system problems.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

We remain dedicated to transparency and accountability with our customers as we continue to reliably provide quality, affordable water that fosters economic vitality and enhanced quality of life for the communities we serve.