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(MLive.com file photo)
FLINT, MI -- Flint water sampled by the state in February registered below the federal threshold for lead with 90 percent of samples at or below 8 parts per billion, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality says.
The DEQ said February's water tests mark the seventh straight month in which city water was below the 15 ppb level enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"The city's water is one of the most monitored systems in the U.S. with respect to lead, and the results are comparable to cities with similar size and age of infrastructure in Michigan and across the nation," Keith Creagh, director of the state Department of Natural Resources, said in a news release.
"We will continue to work with our local, county and federal partners to maintain this trend," Creagh's statement says.
February's testing also showed 95.8 percent of samples taken at homes at risk of high lead levels were at or below 15 ppb.
EPA's Lead and Copper Rule says if lead concentrations exceed 15 ppb or copper concentrations exceed an action level of 1.3 parts per million in more than 10 percent of customer taps sampled, the system must undertake a number of additional actions to control corrosion.
If the action level for lead is exceeded, the system must also inform the public about steps they should take to protect their health and the water system may have to replace lead service lines under their control, according to the agency.
Flint must reports its results every six months.
In the last six-month testing period, 10 percent of Flint water registered at less than 12 ppb.
The level of lead in Flint's water spiked after a the city changed its water source to the Flint River from April 2014 until October 2015, but state and local officials have said the results of those tests may not have accurately reflected the level of water contamination.
City officials have said they never targeted homes at high risk of elevated lead levels during testing and excluded some tests that showed very high lead levels.