The Town of Bonnyville wishes to advise residents that Public Works staff will be conducting lead testing this summer until September of 2021 as per Alberta Environment and Parks and Health Canada requirements as part of a Canada wide initiative.

According to the Town of Bonnyville’s website, the Utilities Department will be sampling a percentage of houses and businesses based on Bonnyville’s population. Residents may be approached by Town staff to see if they wish to participate in this voluntary program.

“It should be noted there are no measurable levels of lead in drinking water when it is in the distribution system, but lead can be found in tap water with homes that have lead service lol pipes or lead plumbing and fixtures,” the Town of Bonnyville stated.

Lead service connections were only used for a short period during World War II when copper was not readily available. Following the war, copper once again became the main material for service lines. Data has shown that it is rare to find a home built after 1950 with lead service lines.

Participating residents will be asked to sign an information release form for the address of the tested home/business for Alberta Environment and Parks.

This “address only” information is retained by the provincial government and the Town of Bonnyville.

Lead sampling results will be returned to the resident within 14 days of samples being received at the lab. The individual results of testing will only be released to the homeowner.