Lead And Your
Drinking Water
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
April 1987
OPA-87-006
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The water you drink may have high concentrations of lead.
THE FACTS ARE:
1 oo much lead in the human body can cause serious damage
to the brain, kidneys, nervous system, and red blood cells.
You have the greatest risk, even with short-term exposure, if:
• you are a young child, or
• you are pregnant.
.Lead levels in your drinking water are likely to be highest:
• if your home or water system has lead pipes, or
• if your home has copper pipes with lead solder, and
—if the home is less than five years old, or
—if you have soft water, or
—if water sits in the pipes for several hours.
1 he only way to be sure of the amount of lead in your
household water is to have the water tested by a competent
laboratory. Your water supplier may be able to offer
information or assistance with testing. Testing is especially
important for apartment dwellers, because flushing may not be
effective in high-rise buildings with lead-soldered central piping.
While you are waiting for your home's test results, take the
following two precautions before using water for drinking or ,
cooking:
• Anytime the water in a particular faucet has not been used
for six hours or longer,^"flush" your cold-water pipes by
running the water until it becomes as cold as it will get. (This
could take as little as five to thirty seconds if there has been
recent heavy water use such as showering or toilet flushing.
Otherwise, it could take two minutes or longer.) The more
time water has been sitting in your home's pipes, the more
lead it may contain.
• Use only water from the cold-water tap for drinking,
cooking, and especially for making baby formula. Hot water is
likely to contain higher levels of lead.
The two actions recommended above are very important to
the health of your family. They will probably be effective in
reducing lead levels because most of the lead in household
water usually comes from the plumbing in your house, not
from the local water supply.
For more details on the problem of lead in drinking water
and what you can do about it, read the questions and answers
in the remainder of this booklet. Your local or state
department of health or environment might be able to provide
additional information.
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Why is lead a problem?
A Although it has been used in
numerous consumer products, lead is
a toxic metal now known to be
harmful to human health if inhaled or
ingested. Important sources of lead
exposure include: ambient air, soil
and dust (both inside and outside the
home), food (which can be
contaminated by lead in the air or in
food containers), and water (from the
corrosion of plumbing). On average, it
is estimated that lead in drinking
water contributes between 10 and 20
percent of total lead exposure in
young children. In the last few years,
federal controls on lead in gasoline
have significantly reduced people's
exposure to lead.
The degree of harm depends upon
the level of exposure (from all
sources). Known effects of exposure to
lead range from subtle biochemical
changes at low levels of exposure, to
severe neurological and toxic effects
or even death at extremely high
levels.
vulnerable to lead poisoning.
A dose of lead that would
have little effect on an adult
can have a big effect on a
small^body. Also, growing
children will more rapidly
absorb any lead they
consume. A child's mental and
physical development can be
irreversibly stunted by over-exposure
to lead. In infants, whose diet consists
of liquids made with water — such as
baby formula — lead in drinking water
makes up an even greater proportion
of total lead exposure (40 to 60
percent).
Does lead affect everyone equally?
A Young children, infants, and
fetuses appear to be particularly
How could lead get into my
drinking water?
A Typically, lead gets into your
water after the water leaves your local
treatment plant or your well. That is,
the source of lead in your home's
water is most likely pipe or solder in
your home's own plumbing.
The most common cause is
corrosion, a reaction between the
water and the lead pipes or solder.
"Soft" water (which lathers soap
easily) is a common cause of
corrosion. All kinds of water,
Drinking Water Supply System
Drinking Water Treatment Plant
Plumbing in Residence
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however, may have high levels of
lead.
One factor that increases corrosion
is the practice of grounding electrical
equipment (such as telephones) to
water pipes. Any electric current
traveling through the ground wire will
accelerate the corrosion of lead in the
pipes. (Nevertheless, wires should not
be removed from pipes unless a
qualified electrician installs an
adequate alternative grounding
system.)
O Does my home's age make a
it,
difference?
A Lead-contaminated drinking
water is most often a problem in
houses that are either very old or very
new.
Up through the early 1900's, it was
common practice, in some areas of the
country, to use lead pipes for interior
plumbing. Also, lead piping was often
used for the service connections that
join residences to public water
supplies. (This practice ended only
recently in some localities.) Plumbing
installed before 1930 is most likely to
contain lead. Copper pipes have
replaced lead pipes in most
residential plumbing. However, the
use of lead solder with copper pipes
is widespread. Experts regard this
lead solder as the major cause of lead
contamination of household water in
U.S. homes today.
Scientific data indicate that the
newer the home, the greater the risk
of lead contamination. Lead levels
decrease as a building ages. This is
because, as time passes, mineral
deposits form a coating on the inside
of the pipes (if the water is not too
corrosive). This coating insulates the
water from the solder. But, during the
first five years (before the coating
forms) water is in direct contact with
the lead. More likely than not, water
in buildings less than five years old
has high levels of lead contamination.
How can I tell if my water
contains too much lead?
A You should have your water
tested for lead. Testing costs between
$20 and $100. Since you cannot see,
taste, or smell lead dissolved in water,
testing is the only sure way of telling
whether or not there are harmful
quantities of lead in your drinking
water.
You should be particularly
suspicious if your home has lead
pipes (lead is a dull-gray metal that is
soft enough to be easily scratched
with a housekey), if you see signs of
corrosion (frequent leaks, rust-colored
water, stained dishes or laundry), or if
your non-plastic plumbing is less than
five years old. Your water supplier
may have useful information,
including whether or not the service
connector used in your home or area
is made of lead.
Testing is especially important in
high-rise buildings where flushing
might not work.
How do I have my water tested?
.A. Water samples from the tap will
have to be collected and sent to a
qualified laboratory for analysis.
Contact your local water utility or
your local health department for
information and assistance. In some
instances, these authorities will test
your tap water for you, or they can
refer you to a qualified laboratory.
You may find a qualified testing
company under "Laboratories" in the
yellow pages of your telephone
directory.
You should be sure that the lab you
use has been approved by your state
or by EPA as being able to analyze
drinking water samples for lead
contamination. To find out which labs
are qualified, contact your state or
local department of the environment
or health.
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What are the testing
procedures?
.A. Arrangements for sample
collection will vary. A few
laboratories will send a trained
technician to take the samples; but in
most cases, the lab will provide
sample containers along with
instructions as to how you should
draw your own tap-water samples. If
you collect the samples yourself,
make sure you follow the lab's
instructions exactly. Otherwise, the
results might not be reliable.
Make sure that the laboratory is
following EPA's water sampling and
analysis procedures. Be certain to take
a "first draw" and a "fully flushed"
sample. (The first-draw sample — taken
after at least six hours of no water use
from the tap tested — will have the
highest level of lead, while the fully
flushed sample will indicate the
effectiveness of flushing the tap before
using the water.)
How much lead is too much?
.A. Federal standards limit the
amount of lead in water to 50 parts
per billion (ppb). In light of new
health and exposure data, EPA has
proposed tightening this standard to
20 ppb. If tests show that the level of
lead in your household water is in the
area of 20 ppb or higher, it is
advisable — especially if there are
young children in the home — to
reduce the lead level in your tap
water as much as possible. (EPA
estimates that more than 40 million
U.S. residents use water that can
contain lead in excess of 20 ppb.)
Note: One ppb is equal to 1.0
microgram per liter (u-g/'l) or 0.001
milligram per liter (mg/1).
How can I reduce my exposure?
.A. If your drinking water is
contaminated with lead—or until you
find out for sure—there are several
things you can do to minimize your
exposure. Two of these actions should
be taken right away by everyone who
has, or suspects, a problem. The
advisability of other actions listed
here will depend upon your particular
circumstances.
Immediate
Steps
• The first step is to refrain from
consuming water that has been in
contact with your home's plumbing
for more than six hours, such as
overnight or during your work day.
Before using water for
drinking or cooking,
"flush" the cold
water faucet by
allowing the water
to run until you
can feel that the /[
water has become //
as cold as it will -Jh
get. You must i
do this for each
drinking water faucet—taking
a shower will not flush your kitchen
tap. Buildings built prior to about
1930 may have service connectors
made of lead. Letting the water run
for an extra 15 seconds after it cools
should also flush this service
connector. Flushing is important
because the longer water is exposed to
lead pipes or lead solder, the greater
the possible lead contamination. (The
water that comes out after flushing
will not have been in extended
contact with lead pipes or solder.)
Once you have flushed a tap, you
might fill one or more bottles with
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water and put them in the refrigerator
for later use that day. (The water that
was flushed—usually one to two
gallons—can be used for
non-consumption purposes such as
washing dishes or clothes; it needn't
be wasted.)
Note: Flushing may prove
ineffective in high-rise buildings that
have large-diameter supply pipes
joined with lead solder.
• The second step is to never cook
with or consume water from the
hot-water tap. Hot water dissolves
more lead more quickly than cold
water. So, do not use water taken
from the hot tap for cooking or
drinking, and especially not for
making baby formula. (If you need
hot water, draw water from the cold
tap and heat it on the stove.) Use only
thoroughly flushed water from the
cold tap for any consumption.
Other
Actions
• If you are served by a public water
system (more than 219 million people
are) contact your supplier and ask
whether or not the supply system
contains lead piping, and whether
your water is corrosive. If either
answer is yes, ask what steps the
supplier is taking to deal with the
problem of lead contamination.
Drinking water can be treated at the
plant to make it less corrosive. Cities
such as Boston and Seattle have
successfully done this for an annual
cost of less than one dollar per
person. (Treatment to reduce
corrosion will also save you and the
water supplier money by reducing
damage to plumbing.)
Water mains containing lead pipes
can be replaced, as well as those
portions of lead service connections
that are under the jurisdiction of the
supplier.
• If you own a well or another water
source, you can treat the water to
make it less corrosive. Corrosion
control devices for individual
households include calcite filters and
other devices. Calcite filters should be
installed in the line between the water
source and any lead service
connections or lead-soldered pipes.
You might ask your health or water
department for assistance in finding
these commercially available
products.
• You can reduce the amount of lead
in the tap water in your home.
Point-of-use treatment devices such as
reverse osmosis devices and
distillation units are commercially
available. These units may be either
purchased or leased. However, they
can be expensive, their effectiveness
varies, and they must be maintained.
Always check the device's capabilities
and actual performance in reducing
lead. Set up an effective and practical
maintenance program to be sure the
system is maintained as recommended
by the manufacturer. This is the best
way to be certain it is doing the job
intended. Since these devices also
soften water, they should only be
installed at the faucet. Of course,
attaching a single unit to the kitchen
tap will not solve a problem at the tap
in the bathroom.
• You can purchase bottled water for
home and office consumption.
(Bottled water in interstate commerce
is regulated by the Food and Drug
Administration. Water that is bottled
and sold within a state is under state
regulation. EPA does not regulate
bottled water.)
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• Instruct, in writing, any plumber
you hire to use only lead-free
materials for repairs or in newly
installed plumbing.
• Before you move into a newly built
home, remove all strainers from
faucets and flush the water for at least
15 minutes to remove loose lead
solder or flux debris from the
plumbing. Occasionally, check the
strainers and remove any later
accumulation of loose lead.
Aren't there a lot of types of
treatment devices that would work?
A. No. The following devices are not
designed to reduce lead:
• Carbon filters, sand filters, and
cartridge filters. These do filter out
some water contaminants, but they do
not remove lead and they do nothing
to prevent corrosion.
• While a water softener can reduce
lead in the water entering your home,
it can also contribute to the
corrosiveness of the water and, thus,
to the potential of lead contamination.
In homes where lead is a problem,
water softeners should not be
connected to pipes leading to
drinking-water taps.
What is the government doing
about the problem of lead in
household water?
A There are two major
governmental actions to reduce your
exposure to lead:
• EPA, under the authority of the
Safe Drinking Water Act, limited the
amount of lead in drinking water to
50 ppb. In November 1985, the
Agency began to revise this standard
by proposing a tighter goal of 20 ppb.
EPA is scheduled to complete the
revision process by June 1988.
Utilities must assure that water from
the customer's tap meets the standard,
and notify citizens of all violations of
the standard.
• In June 1986, President Reagan
signed amendments to the Safe
Drinking Water Act. These
amendments require the use of
"lead-free" pipe, solder, and flux in
the installation or repair of any public
water system, or any plumbing in a
residential or non-residential facility
connected to a public water system.
Under the provisions of these
amendments, solders and flux will be
considered "lead-free" when they
contain not more than 0.2 percent
lead. (In the past, solder normally
contained about 50 percent lead.)
Pipes and pipe fittings will be
considered "lead-free" when they
contain not more than 8.0 percent
lead.
These requirements went into effect
immediately. The law gives state
governments until June 1988 to
implement and enforce these new
limitations. A number of states have
already banned all use of lead
materials in drinking water systems.
These states (as of March 1987) are:
Delaware, California, Connecticut,
Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode
Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Such
bans do not eliminate lead
contamination within existing
plumbing.
O Where can I get more
information?
A You should direct any
unanswered questions to your
drinking water supplier, or your
county or state department of health
or environment.
,V U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1988 516-002/80197
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Definitions
Corrosion: A dissolving and wearing
away of metal caused by a chemical
reaction (in this case, between water
and the piping that the water contacts
or between two different metals).
First Draw: The water that
immediately comes out when a tap is
first opened.
Flush: To open a cold-water tap to
clear out all the water which may
have been sitting for a long time in
the pipes.
In new homes, to flush a system
means to send large volumes of water
gushing through the unused pipes to
remove loose particles of solder and
flux. (Sometimes this is not done
correctly or at all.)
Flux: A substance applied during
soldering to facilitate the flow of
solder. Flux often contains lead and
can, itself, be a source of
contamination.
Public Water System: Any system that
supplies water to 25 or more people
or has 15 or more service connections
(buildings or customers).
Service Connector: The pipe that
carries tap water from the public
water main to a building. In the past,
these were often made of lead.
Soft water: Any water that is not
"hard." Water is considered to be hard
when it contains a large amount of
dissolved minerals, such as salts
containing calcium or magnesium.
You may be familiar with hard water
that interferes with the lathering
action of soap.
Solder: A metallic compound used to
seal the joints between pipes. Until
recently, most solder contained about
50 percent lead.
This booklet—a work of the U.S. Government—is in the public domain
and cannot be copyrighted. Anyone may reproduce this bookJel ivithout
permission of EPA.
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