Tests show Ohio village’s water OK after lead scare

Sebring, Ohio — Ohio’s Environmental Protection Agency says lead levels in tap water were below the federal allowable limit in most of the recent samples requested by homeowners in the northeast Ohio village of Sebring.

Operators of a small water system serving that Mahoning County village were criticized for not notifying the public for months that unsafe levels of lead were found in some homes last summer.

Ohio EPA says 259 water samples have been taken since Jan. 21, and 250 had allowable levels. For homes not meeting those levels, the village must provide bottled water or filtration.

State officials are working with Sebring to adjust its water system chemistry to keep lead from leaching from residential piping. They say the treatment plant and its water source have no detectable lead.