The village of Sebring has been providing free and voluntary water testing for homeowners since a Jan. 21 order from the Ohio EPA requiring them to do so. The village must also provide bottled water or a water filtration system to each of the homes found to have lead levels above the allowable limit. Sebring is required to comply with actions directed by the Ohio EPA, whether immediate, short-term or long-term.
Since the Ohio EPA mandated testing began, the village has collected and tested 1,104 samples. Just under 96 percent of those, or 1,057, were within the federal allowable limit. Sebring, the Ohio EPA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been working together to address the cause of the contamination, which is a corrosive water chemistry that is leading to leaching from some homes’ piping. The village recently installed a temporary feed for orthophosphate, which will help prevent lead leeching by coating pipes throughout the drinking water system.
Sebring residents are encouraged to run their tap water for up to two minutes before use to minimize the risk of lead exposure.
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