Elevated lead amounts found in water samples at Fort Belvoir North Area

Recently, Fort Belvoir's Directorate of Public Works issued a public service notice stating that some drinking water samples in the Fort Belvoir North Area exceeded the acceptable levels established by the Safe Drinking Water Act for lead.

According to the public notice, the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir North Area Waterworks found elevated levels of lead in drinking water in some newly constructed buildings in the area.

Officials said the public notification was issued, as required by law when lead or copper is found in excess of federal standards.

Although elevated lead levels in drinking water is serious, DPW officials said there is nothing to be concerned about for water users on main post or in water systems serving nearby neighborhoods.

"(The findings) are isolated to the Fort Belvoir North Area," said Tim Betts, Fort Belvoir's drinking water program manager. "Fort Belvoir North is a completely separate water system from the main post."

The findings are isolated to the pipes inside the new construction, Betts said.

Betts said water provided to the building from the waterworks is potable and meets all requirements. "The samples we took were actually from inside the building. Typically, that's where lead and copper get into the water system," he said.

The North Area Waterworks is working hand-in-hand with Fairfax Water to monitor the situation, said Marcia Kicos, chief of the Environmental Compliance Branch in DPW's Environmental and Natural Resources Division.

"They have not detected any problems in their system. It is strictly isolated to the new construction," Kicos said.

DPW officials said it is not typical to sample administrative buildings for lead and copper; however, as a permitted waterworks - a public utility which provides water to a community - Fort Belvoir is required to do so.

Since the findings, DPW has been working aggressively with the Corps of Engineers and contractors to determine the source of the metal, by conducting follow-up monitoring to nail down the extent of the problem, carefully reviewing the results, consulting with state health officials and promptly taking appropriate action when necessary.

Right now, we're not sure what the problem is, but we are working towards figuring it out and correcting it," Kicos said.