A new government law requires that the lead content of drinking water be less th

Question

A new government law requires that the lead content of drinking water be less than 1.0 ppb. You are a safety engineer, and you have recently tested your companys drinking water using two methods. Method A gives a reading of 0.85 ppb, whereas Method B gives a reading of 1.23 ppb. You are required to fill out a government report describing the quality of your companys water. If the lead content exceeds 1.0ppb, your company will be fined. You are considering whether to report the results of Method A or Method B. Identify and discuss the issues involved here. Describe what you would do and why.

Explanation / Answer

I would run Method B again. If the result comes out the same I would write the enforcers of the law to ask if Method A is acceptable.

While waiting for an answer I would try to determine the source of lead in the water. If the lead comes from a purveyor, and shows a lead level over 1.0 by Method B I would notify both the purveyor and the enforcing agency.

If the answer is yes, I would report the finding of Method A. If the answer is no I would report the Method B result with mention that we are looking for the source so we can correct the problem. No agency is going to fine the company for finding an unintentional high level. In my experience they give the company a specified time to correct the problem.

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