Regina residents petitioning city to replace remaining lead pipes by 2026

People living with lead-tainted water in Regina are petitioning the city to speed up the timeline to replace its remaining 3,400 lead service connections. 

Signatories want the replacements done in four years, rather than the 15 years outlined in the plan approved by city council in May.

The petition is sponsored by a coalition, of community associations and residents from neighbourhoods with lead water connections, calling itself the get the lead out committee.

"The petition puts pressure on council and also helps educate people on the issue," committee member Florence Stratton said.

Signatures are still being collected and there are about 170 names on the petition to date, said Stratton, who lives in the Cathedral neighbourhood. 

Once the petition is submitted, the city clerk will determine the next steps.

Construction considerations: city

According to the city, crews replaced 193 lead service connections in 2021, 118 in 2020 and 180 in 2019. 

The locations of the remaining 3,400 are listed on a map on the city website. 

In May 2021, council approved a city report recommending a 15-year timeline for lead-pipe replacement and a budget of $36 million. 

It also had options of five years or 10 years, but the city administration recommended 15 due to concerns about construction and digging up new roads. 

Kim Onrait, the city's executive director of citizen services, spoke to media about some of the logistical considerations Tuesday. 

"There was a lot of planning that goes into our road renewal and our infrastructural renewal projects in the construction here. So all of this needs to be coordinated," Onrait said. 

"If you start shortening programs, it will put a huge amount of pressure in certain locations that have massive amounts of construction lined up." 

Onrait said a five-year program would increase the cost to around $8 million a year. 

For me, it's really about the health effects. And it's really hard to know if you're being affected by lead​​​​​- Heather Dedman, homeowner with lead-tainted water

The proposal for that would be a three per cent utility increase for 2022-23, a one per cent in 2024 and another one per cent in 2025.

Onrait said other municipalities the city looked at for guidance did not have a shared-cost program for private connections. 

Onrait added that council has final approval on whether timelines are shortened.

The City of Regina provides water sample testing in some cases, along with free water filters to affected homes.

Heather Dedman has used a filter since being notified by the city in 2019 that water in her Heritage neighbourhood home flowed through a lead service connection.

Concerns about impact on children's health

She said a water test in late 2019 found lead levels more than 10 times the amount deemed appropriate by Health Canada. 

Like others in her position, she does what she can to mitigate the problem — including running taps before taking water for use. 

"For me, it's really about the health effects. And it's really hard to know if you're being affected by lead," she said. 

Dedman, who is also a member of the get the lead out committee, works as a pharmacist in pediatrics with a neonatal intensive care unit. 

Because of that, she's concerned with the long-term effects of lead-tainted water on children. According to Health Canada, those include behavioural symptoms and, sometimes, cognitive loss. 

"Decreasing the time of getting the lead out … would substantially make a huge difference," Dedman said.