On January 9th, OPDC hosted a community meeting about water quality in the South Oakland neighborhood. Some South Oakland residents have recently learned that their water contains elevated levels of lead. We invited the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) to talk with community members about lead contamination sources and what precautions can be taken to remedy them. PWSA has offered to provide free lead test kits to any resident who would like to test the water quality in their home. Representatives from Women for a Healthy Environment (WHE) were also in attendance to educate residents on solutions to combat elevated lead levels, such as the most effective water filters for filtering out lead. See the meeting minutes here to learn more about lead contamination and review the points presented by PWSA and WHE.
If you are interested in receiving a free lead test kit or a water filter pitcher, please contact Andrea Boykowycz at 412.621.7863 ext. 17 or aboykowycz@opdc.org. The more residents that get involved and test their water, the more we can understand how big this issue is in our community.