BEAUMONT, Texas — A notation at the bottom of an annual report on the City of Beaumont's drinking water says they can't be sure of the water quality but that may be misleading.
The notation in the "Annual Water Quality Report" for 2023 literally says "during the July-01-2023 to December-31-2023 period, we did not complete all testing for lead and copper and therefore cannot be sure of the quality of your drinking water during that time."
The entry, at the bottom of the very last page of the report, begins with the fact that the city "violated the monitoring and reporting requirements" set up by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The city was required to submit 100 water samples to the TCEQ but missed the mark, according to the report.
The city relies on volunteers to submit water samples for testing and this time they didn't have enough volunteers. Two of the samples came in after the city's testing deadline.
Usually the city collects one batch of at least 50 samples annually but, because of a change made last year in how the city's water is treated, they're now required to test 100 samples within a six month period twice yearly. The samples are sent to the TCEQ for testing, according to Beaumont's City Engineer, Molly Villarreal. One of the main things being tested for is lead and copper in drinking water.
"Lead is definitely detrimental to public health so it's important for the sampling," said Bart Bartkowiak, the city's Director of Public Works.
Villarreal spoke to 12News in June 2024 after the city put out a plea for more residents to help out by volunteering to provide water samples.
The city initially sent out requests for water samples to 250 water customers for the first batch of samples to be collected between the end of July 2023 and the end of December 2023, Villarreal told 12News in June.
But, by the time the deadline rolled around only 98 samples had been received by the city, she said.
"Our violation in this case that required us to publish that statement was that we came two samples short. We did not have bad water quality. There are safe levels of lead which means that 90% of those samples are under what TCEP limits are," Bartkowiak.
The 98 samples were sent in and no issues with high amounts of lead were found but, because the city was two samples short, they were technically in violation of their monitoring requirements.
The two missing samples did eventually show up and were sent for testing, she said. The last two samples also showed no issues.
In order to avoid another violation, the city reached out in June to recruit more people to potentially provide samples. They began with city employees that reside in the city and then the general public, Villarreal said.
The city made a June 2024 Facebook post on the city's Facebook page asking residents to take a survey and potentially provide a water sample from their home.
Moving forward the city plans to keep looking for more sample volunteers to ensure they don't run afoul of the rules again.
For Beaumont residents collecting the sample isn't hard, but some may find it inconvenient.
Once a resident fills out the survey, which asks basic questions about when their home was built and what type of pipes are in their home, the city determines if they meet the criteria for providing a water sample.
If they meet the criteria, which includes having lead or copper pipes, the city will email them and then leave a test kit at their front door.
Residents must then collect a sample first thing in the morning, after the water has been sitting in their pipes all night. They must draw the sample from an interior faucet closest to where the water supply line enters their house.
"Not only are we testing the city water of Beaumont, we're testing the water of that comes directly out of the faucet in your house," said Bartkowiak.
They can then simply leave the sample on their front porch and call 3-1-1 to let the city know it's ready to be picked up.
Once the test results come in they will be shared with the resident. If your home returns elevated amounts of lead or copper, the city can help you clean your aerator.
"Its a piece that screws onto the faucet that keeps it from being a solid stream. Overtime it can gather sediment and throw off the sample," Bartkowiak said.
The EPA has set the maximum allowable concentration of lead in public drinking water at 15 parts per billion. The 2022 levels for the Beaumont water system were well below that at 3.5 parts per billion, Villarreal said.
Villarreal also said none of the samples have come back with enough lead levels to cause any alarm.
The city collected 104 water samples between January and June 2024. They told 12News they dropped off 139 kits Tuesday and will drop more off in August.
If you would like to participate for sampling, call Makenzie Watts at 409-730-4406.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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