Sandy City Releases 2,200 Homes From No-Drink Order

SANDY, Utah – About 2,200 homes in Sandy have been released from a no-drink order after high levels of lead and copper were found in the drinking water of some homes. About 600 homes remain under the order.

The trouble began last week, when a fluoride doser malfunctioned during a snowstorm, sending excess levels of fluoride into the water.

The fluoride made the water acidic, allowing lead and copper from the pipes in some homes to leech into the water.

The city took samples of the water while mitigating the fluoride issue. A week later, results showed high levels of lead and copper in some homes.

Marie Owens, director of the Utah Division of Water, said the highest level of lead they saw was 394 micrograms per liter. The level at which a water system has to take action is 15 micrograms per liter. The highest copper level they saw was 28,800 micrograms per liter. The action level for copper is 1,300 micrograms per liter.

“We would consider those results to be significantly dangerous,” Owens said.

The city put just under 3,000 homes under a no-drink order while they worked to solve the problem. They split the homes into three zones.

Lab tests from the 2,200 homes in zone three never showed high levels of lead or copper, but the city put them under the order out of an abundance of caution.

There has been no indication that the lead or copper was ever in the city water supply, only in the pipes of individual homes.

Owens said her office suspected the high levels of fluoride may have corroded the pipes in people’s homes and urged the city to test the water samples for all metal contaminants.

There was some confusion about that testing and the city initially only tested for lead and copper. Further testing results on the original samples came back Saturday night showing elevated levels of manganese, aluminum, iron, and arsenic.

In samples taken over the weekend, tests showed contaminants had dropped below action levels. Results from samples were still coming in throughout the day Sunday.

The city will test the water at each home remaining in the no-drink zone to determine whether or not any homes have lingering problems.

Some residents were upset that the city did not do more to inform them of the initial fluoride incident. The city went door to door in the affected area.

If people were not home, they left a flier on the door. Jodi Monaco said she rarely uses that door and did not see the flier. Sandy mayor Kurt Bradburn said they understood people’s frustrations.

“I apologize for the lack of communication that was felt amongst our residents. That is something we will address very quickly,” he said. “We apologize, of course, about the tremendous inconvenience and health issues that this has caused. We will be there to help and assist any way we can moving forward,”

Dr. Royal Delegge of the Salt Lake County Health Department said about 90 people called poison control with gastrointestinal problems.

It is not known yet how many people may have been sickened by the initial fluoride incident or the subsequent metal contamination.

As the city continues to test homes in the no-drink zone, homeowners wonder whether the acidic water did permanent damage to their pipes.

Test results that have come in so far do not show any remaining high levels of contaminants, but individual tests of each home will be the only way to confirm the danger has passed. City leaders expect that testing to last a few days.

The city will hold a town hall meeting to address concerns about the water on Monday evening from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the theater at Mount Jordan Middle School.