Lead In Water In 3 Houses In 1 Calcasieu District

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Customers in one Calcasieu Parish water district have been notified that samples taken from three homes last year had elevated levels of lead.

The district's operations chief, Terry Frelot, tells The American Press that the lead is coming from plumbing within the houses— not from the district. He says Waterworks District 5 has plastic pipes, but some older houses may have pipes that are made of or soldered with lead.

Frelot says three of 20 samples from homes — 10 percent — had lead levels above the Environmental Protection Agency's standard of 15 parts per billion.

Calcasieu Parish has about 194,500 residents in nearly 73,000 households. Waterworks District 5 has about 1,400 customers.

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Online:

www.epa.gov/lead

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Information from: American Press, http://www.americanpress.com