Environmental Committee: Water Testing

Note: A copy of the Jul. 2022 email sent to the Harrisburg NAACP Environmental Committee follows. Questions about sprinkler heads added. The introductory note was also truncated to indicate that testing occurs every three years, not three times a year. Otherwise, some sentences were shortened for brevity as punctuated.

---

Note: Just before publication, I learned that Capital Water Region has enough volunteers for the federally mandated test for lead and copper. The announcement below is therefore provided in advance of the next tri-annual deadline....
​

• Do you live in a single-family home in the City of Harrisburg?
• Was your house built before 1983?
• Is Capital Region Water your water supplier?
• Is the supply pipe for your kitchen sink, bathroom sink, or water heater made from copper?
• Is the cold-water faucet in your kitchen or bathroom not treated with a household water filter/softener/conditioner?

If you answered "yes" to each question, then you're eligible for a free lead-and-copper kit from Capital Region Water. According to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, lead contamination can lead to brain and kidney damage. The ingestion of copper, on the other hand, can lead to diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and the like.

Lead and Water Sampling is conducted under federal regulations and the state's Lead and Copper Rule three times a year. The current deadline to sample your water is Aug. 31.
 
For a video demonstration, see vimeo.com/728147567?mc_cid=c743c1b1fe&mc_eid=238f035348.

​To receive updates from Capital Region Water, visit capitalregionwater.com.

1. In regard to non-arson residential fires, I wonder if a home with copper pipes can be outfitted for an indoor sprinkler system?
2. If yes, would an indoor sprinkler system reduce the longevity of these pipes? Asked a different way, would it erode these pipes faster.
3. If yes to #1, what would be more cost-efficient for a low-wealth household: The replacement of slightly corroded pipes in a reedy or wood-based home, or installation of an indoor sprinkler system in the same home?
4. When fighting fires, can water supplied to a fire hydrant contain lead or copper?

Hi, <Redacted>:
 
It was only today that I decided to delay Draft 3 of the script on fire safety and prevention until August. In addition to bus travel to/from multiple appointments..., I've been petitioning registered voters on-foot... ahead of a statewide deadline tomorrow. This included 90-degree weather yesterday and even hotter the day of the NAACP meeting several days ago.

Admittedly, I dozed off hard after the executive meeting started and again after the general meeting started. My [drowsiness] was part of the reason I had no report on behalf of the Environmental Committee, though I had a draft report about the aforementioned Lead and Water Sampling mentioned above.
 
I hope to have Draft 3 of the script to you prior to the next meeting in August.
 
Until then, best regards.
 
Jubalyn ExWilliams
Chair | Environmental Committee
Harrisburg NAACP
XXX-XXX-XXXX
 
P.S.  I'm glad we as members of the Committee met in person earlier this month for the first time since it formed a year ago.

Firefighter dousing a fire (Credit: "RAF Firefighter" by Defence Images)

---

The founding Environmental Committee of the Harrisburg NAACP popularizes awareness for fire safety & prevention in the City of Harrisburg. Upon its formal conception in March 2021, the Committee has been developing a free educational product for young learners about non-arson house fires.

Would you like to join the Harrisburg NAACP and help shape the Environmental Committee, or another committee? Contact the Greater Harrisburg Area NAACP at hbgnaacp.com, its first website in 5 years.

---

Related: Environmental Committee: Attempt to Volunteer with GHTU, II (Aug. 2021)
Related: Environmental Committee: Intro (1/2 Jun. 2021)
Related: Environmental Committee: Fire Safety Cartoon, I (May 2022)
Related: Environmental Committee: Research on Basic Fire Safety, Prevention (Jan. 2022)
Related: How region factors into my observation of non-arson, non-climatic house fires (2021)
Related: Environmental Committee: Proposal on Harrisburg Fire Safety, Prevention (2021)

---