La Salle finds amounts of lead higher than EPA-acceptable levels in some homes

The city of La Salle found amounts of lead higher than EPA-acceptable levels in the drinking water of some La Salle homes, said Chris Perra, the owner of TEST and certified water operator.

“The thing that makes this a little unique right now is since we had those couple elevated samples at the end of last year, it kicked us into this extra notification where we have to notify all of the public,” Perra told the La Salle City Council on Monday.

In a recent testing of 40 homes, one of 36 homes returned with a higher-than-EPA-acceptable lead count, Perra said.

Perra said he doesn’t know when he can expect back the other four samples from the homeowners.

He said the lead concentration potentially increases overnight when no one is running the water, which is why samples are taken first thing in the morning as a worst-case scenario. His advice for those concerned is to wait and let it run.

“Lead or any type of metal that is coming from your house – plumbing that’s sitting there, the best way to avoid it, let it run until it gets good and cold,” he said.

Perra gave a brief overview of the city’s testing. In 2016, of the 20 samples collected by the city, one of the samples was above the EPA-acceptable levels. In 2019, none of the samples returned high. Then in 2023, two of them were considered elevated.

Perra said the same year the city had five of 40 samples test above EPA-acceptable levels, leading the city to do additional testing into the last quarter of 2023.

At the end of 2023, the city conducted its regular lead sampling of 47 homes, and six homes returned with levels exceeding the EPA limit, Perra said.

The city said the six homes were notified of the exceedence. Tests are conducted by the homeowners, which have different types and ages of pipes of fixtures.

“Basically, when you do this testing you’re relying on the homeowner,” he said. “You’re dropping off instructions and you have to make sure they flush the line properly.”

The city said in a news release the issue was site-specific and unrelated to the water treatment plant, but instead, it is most likely caused by the water lines and other in-home fixtures.

Alderman John “Doc” Lavieri asked Perra if any main testing had been done just to prove results were negative.

Perra said no, but there was a technique to do surface length testing. He said he examined what was leaving the water treatment plant and what was coming from the wells.

“And looking at the data of the wells were using at our water treatment plant, the lead is not there,” he said. “Lead comes from people’s plumbing when the water sits in the plumbing for an extended period of time.”

The city said it is notifying the public of the high lead amounts as part of its Public Education Campaign regarding the 2023 samples and will continue the lead line sampling.

Perra said until the city’s numbers go down it will be sampling lead and copper quarterly. However, if the number of samples go down he expects sampling to decrease gradually.

Mayor Jeff Grove said the city would pay the $30 fee for any resident who wanted to get their home tested through Perra’s coming TEST and confirmed with him during the meeting.

“I don’t want anyone in La Salle to feel like they don’t have that option,” he said.

For more information call 815-224-1650 or visit lasalle-il.gov for copies of the mass mailer.

For updates on the lead samples visit https://water.epa.state.il.us/dww/index.jsp, search La Salle under principal county served, and lead and copper sample summary results.