Recently analyzed water samples taken from 60 Cape Girardeau homes revealed lead and copper levels well below federal regulatory restrictions.

That means more to the city than simply clean water. It also means Mid-Missouri Engineers Inc., which operates the Cape Girardeau water system, won't have to comply with a multitude of testing and mitigation measures to remove lead and copper from the water.

"We are very pleased to report that neither element exceeds the action levels at the ... reporting requirement," said Tom Taggart, water system manager. "Analysis results further confirm that none of the 60 samples obtained exceeded the action levels in the monitoring period.

"Concentrations of both elements are well below the action level thresholds. Therefore, no action in addition to the scheduled six month resampling is required."

To comply with the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for lead and copper, the city was required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to collect samples from taps in customers' homes, Taggart said.

"Cape Girardeau, classified as a medium-sized system, was required to submit 60 samples between June and December 1992 for analysis and compliance reporting," he said.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources, responsible for administration and enforcement of the EPA regulation, determined which laboratories would analyze the samples.

Taggart said that exceeding the levels set out by the EPA would have triggered numerous requirements to correct the problem.

Those levels were set at 15 parts per billion for lead and 1,300 parts per billion for copper. The DNR's sample analysis showed that in Cape Girardeau, lead content averaged 2.7 parts per billion, and copper averaged 82.4 parts per billion.

Taggart said samples were drawn from homes that were served with lead or copper service lines.

"These sites would represent the highest potential levels of lead and copper in the water system," he said.

Also, the samples were "first draw" samples representing initial water use after water had remained in house plumbing overnight, allowing lead and copper levels to peak.

Taggart said those water systems that exceed the EPA limits in more than 10 percent of the samples are considered in violation and required to submit corrosion control treatment plans, conduct treatment studies, implement public education programs, and if subsequent samples still exceed limits, replace all lead piping in the system within 15 years.

Even with the city's compliance, water samples will again have to be drawn in six months, then annually, and finally, once every three years if the system remains in compliance.