Lead Services

The water distributed from the Water Treatment Plant is tested annually for lead and other contaminants, and does not contain any measurable amount of lead. 

But lead may be found in tap water for those homes with lead service pipes or if it's present in lead plumbing and fixtures inside your home. If you have concerns about your tap water, the information contained on this page will help you. See below first: Filtration. 

Introducing the City's Lead Services Project:

The City of Swift Current is committed to the safety and well-being of you, our valued citizens, and beginning the week of November 18, 2019, we will be launching a multi-phased plan to identify water services in City households and businesses.

"Water services": Water pipes that connect the water supply from the City to the pipes inside of residential/commercial buildings.

The purpose of the project is to identify locations where lead services (pipes) exist that supply water to residential and commercial buildings.

About Lead Services:

Lead pipes were used for water services as long as 100 years ago, and as recently as approximately 60 years ago. Due to the fact that lead services, where they exist, were installed so long ago, we do not have adequate records that allow us to track what materials have been used to supply water beyond City water mains.

The full scope of this project is to identify, assess and take remedial action, if necessary, when residential and commercial buildings are discovered to have lead services supplying them with water. We have engaged our staff to gather information and photographs that depict water services at their personal residences. This will help our Infrastructure & Operations Division quickly establish a bird’s eye view of water services in neighbourhoods throughout the City.

Following initial engagement with City staff, which will provide us with a quick snapshot of areas of concern, we will be directly engaging citizens in areas of the community where lead services may be present. More information will be released as we move forward with this part of the project.

Please keep in mind that:

• This is a precautionary measure that we are taking to ensure all businesses and residences in the community have an adequate water supply.
• Over years of testing completed at our Water Treatment Plant, no lead has been detected in our source water.
• We actively control the pH in our source water, which, in turn, creates a natural barrier inside our pipe system that helps prevent lead and other elements from leaching off of pipes and into the water supply.

Filtration:

If you are concerned about the potential of lead in your drinking water, the simplest and most cost-effective solution to protect yourself is to install a water filtration system that uses activated carbon filters that are certified for lead reduction.

• These carbon filters are indicated as NSF-53 Certified.
• The filters must be changed periodically in order to be effective.
• They are available in a variety of systems, including filtered pitchers, tap mounts and under-the-counter units.

NSF International is the recognized body that develops public health standards and certification programs that help protect the world’s food, water, consumer products and environment. To learn more about water filtration products that reduce lead in drinking water, visit their Certified Product Listings for Lead Reduction report.

Peace of mind:

We are committed to keeping you well-informed as we move forward with this project. If you do have any questions or concerns, we will be happy to assist you. We can be reached by email at leadservices@swiftcurrent.ca and by telephone at 306.778.2748.

Please note that our telephone inquiry line will be answered Monday to Friday from 7:45 AM to 4:30 PM, and email responses to inquiries will be limited to these hours as well.