Fort Wayne doesn’t have problems with lead in its water like those that have lately gripped Flint, Michigan. But that doesn’t mean residents should be unconcerned about the potential for lead poisoning here, city health and water officials said Friday.
During a media briefing at the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health’s Medical Annex, officials said lead has been occasionally detected at low levels in city-supplied water and at unacceptably high levels in children.
John Clark, City Utilities’ deputy director of operations, and Chet Shastri, superintendent of the filtration plant, said water coming from the plant is safe.
They credited that to long-term use of the same water source, a water additive that coats the inside of any remaining lead pipes to prevent them from leaching the metal and water monitoring that allows treatment formulas to be adjusted should lead be detected.
“What is more of a problem in Fort Wayne is lead (poisoning) from paint,” said Trina Riecke, case manager in the health department’s lead program.
Riecke said about 1,600 mostly preschool-age children are screened for lead each year, with about 90 found with unacceptably high levels in their blood. She suspects many more may be affected because screening is mandatory only for children on Medicaid, and not all pediatricians screen.