Cedar Valley News
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
What Your Pipes Are Doing to Your Children
By Lars Olson
A young couple came into my store last month. The father was carrying a baby against his chest. The mother had a piece of pipe in her hand—a short section she had cut from under their basement sink. She set it on my counter and asked what kind of fitting she needed. I asked how old their house was. Nineteen forty-two, she said. I asked if they knew what their water service line was made of—the pipe running underground from the street to their house. They did not. I told them to test their water before they fixed the leak. The mother picked up the baby’s bottle from the counter and looked at it.
I have sold plumbing supplies for thirty years. I have a master’s degree in chemistry. I know what lead does to the human body. There is no safe level of exposure. None. In children, lead damages the brain. It slows learning. It harms physical development. The damage is irreversible—there is no treatment, no antidote, no way to undo it. In adults, lead increases blood pressure, damages kidneys, and causes heart disease and cancer. The Centers for Disease Control has been saying this for decades. And for decades, millions of Americans have been drinking water delivered through lead pipes installed before anyone understood the cost.
Up to nine million American homes are still connected to their water supply by lead pipes. A federal rule finalized in 2024 requires every one of them to be replaced within ten years. The clock starts in November 2027. But here is what most homeowners do not know: the rule covers the pipes on the public side of the line. The pipes on your side—from the property line to your kitchen faucet—are your responsibility. The cost ranges from 400 to 2,000 dollars.
If you bought an older home, the inspection probably did not include a pipe material test. Most do not. The previous owner may not have known. The realtor may not have asked. The pipe sits in the ground between the street and your foundation, and unless somebody digs it up or tests the water, nobody knows what it is made of.
You can find out. A basic water test for lead costs fifteen to fifty dollars. Your local utility may offer one free. Some hardware stores carry test kits. If the test comes back above ten parts per billion—the new federal action level—your water system is required to notify you and provide a filter. But a filter is a bandage. The pipe is the problem.
I think about the couple with the baby. I think about lead doing its work in silence, one glass of water at a time, in a house where the parents are doing everything right except the one thing nobody told them to check.
If your home was built before 1986, test your water. If you have young children, test it this week. Federal and state funding is available for some homeowners, especially in lower-income communities. Ask your utility. Ask your state drinking water agency. The money exists. But you have to ask.
The government set the deadline. The government set the standard. But the government is not going to knock on your door and hand you a pipe. You are the one who turns on the faucet. You are the one who fills the glass. And you are the one who gives it to your child.
This editorial is part of the fictional Cedar Valley News series, written by Evan Swensen, Publisher, Publication Consultants, and Claude Marshall, AI Developmental Editor. While the people and town are fictional, the national events they reflect on are real.
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Author Campaign Method (ACM) for Authorpreneurs
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. Author Campaign Method (ACM) of sales and marketing is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authorpreneurs who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for them.
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Cortex is for serious authors and will probably not be of interest to hobbyists. We recorded our Cortex training and information meeting. If you’re a serious author, and did not attend the meeting, and would like to review the training information, kindly let us know. Authors are required to have a Facebook author page to use Cortex.
Correction:
We take the quote by Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble seriously: “The author is essential to the success of the book, giving energy behind the book to make it something that a customer will come in and ask for. That is what makes the difference in a book that sells, that develops legs, and has a life of its own. Otherwise the book goes on the shelf and stays there for three months. Then it gets returned.”
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. ACM is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authors who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for serious authors, but a burden for hobbyist. We don’t recommend ACM for hobbyists.
We’re the only publisher we know of that provides authors with book signing opportunities. Book signing are appropriate for hobbyist and essential for serious authors. To schedule a book signing kindly go to our website, <
An Author Page on Amazon Author Central is a serious author ACM requirement and desirable for the hobbyist. Author Central is a free resource designed to help authors become more active participants in the promotion of their books. In Author Central you can manage an Author Page, update information about your books, and view Customer Reviews and sales information for your bibliography. If you don’t already have an Author Page on 
We hear authors complain about all the personal stuff on Facebook. Most of these complaints are because the author doesn’t understand the difference difference between a Facebook profile and a Facebook page. Simply put, a profile is for personal things for friends and family; a page is for business. If your book is just a hobby, then it’s fine to have only a Facebook profile and make your posts for friends and family; however, if you’re serious about your writing, and it’s a business with you, or you want it to be business, then you need a Facebook page as an author. It’s simple to tell if it’s a page or a profile. A profile shows how many friends and a page shows how many likes. Here’s a link <> to a straight forward description on how to set up your author Facebook page.
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Mosquito Books has a new location in the Anchorage international airport and is available for signings with 21 days notice. Jim Misko had a signing there yesterday. His signing report included these words, “Had the best day ever at the airport . . ..”
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