Drinking Water Facts: Lead

Lead is a common metal found throughout the environment in lead-based paint, air, soil, household dust, food, certain types of pottery, porcelain, pewter and water. Lead can pose a significant risk to your health if too much of it enters your body. Lead builds up in the body over many years and can cause damage to the brain, red blood cells and kidneys.

The greatest risk is to young children and pregnant women --amounts of lead that won't hurt adults can slow down normal mental and physical development of growing bodies. In addition, a child at play often comes into contact with sources of lead contamination --like dirt and dust -- that rarely affect an adult.(It is important to wash children's hands and toys often, and tootry ot make sure they put only food in their mouths.)

Lead in Drinking Water, although rarely the sole cause of lead poisoining, can significantly increase a person's total lead exposure, particularly the exposure of infants who drink baby formulas and concentrated juices that are mixed with water. The EPA estimates that drinking water can make up 20 percent or more of a person's total exposure to lead.

Lead is unusual among drinking water contaminants in that it seldom occurs naturally in water supplies like rivers and lakes. So, how does lead get into drinking water?

Lead enters drinking water primarily as a result of corrosion, or wearing away, of materials containing lead in the water distribution system and household plumbing. These materials include lead-baed solder used to join copper pipe, brass and chrome-plated brass faucets and in some cases, pipes made of lead that connect your house to the water main (service lines).

(In 1986, Congress banned the use of lead solder containing greater than 0.2 percent lead, and restricted the lead content of faucets, pipes and other plumbing materials to 8.0 percent.) When water stands in lead pipes or plumbing systems containing lead for several hours or more, the lead may dissolve into your drinking water. This means the first water drawn from the tap in the morning, or later in the afternoon after returning from work or school, can contain fairly high levels of lead.

You can take steps in the home to reduce exposure to lead in drinking water. Despite our best efforts mentioned earlier to control water corrosivity and remove lead from the water supply, lead levels in some homes or buildings can be high.

To find out whether you need to take action in your home, have your drinking water tested to determine if it contains excessive concentrations of lead. Testing the water is essential because you cannot see, taste, or smell lead in drinking water. For more information on having your water tested, please call +706 883 2140.

If a water test indicates that the drinking water drawn from a tap in your home contains lead above 15 ppb, then you should take the following precautions.

How to reduce exposure to lead

1. Flush your tap
   • let the water run from the tap before using it for drinking or cooking any time the water in a faucet has gone unused for more than 6 hours. The longer water resides in your home's plumbing, the more lead it may contain.
     
     Flushing the tap means running the cold water faucet until the water gets noticeably colder, usually about 15-30 seconds. If your house has a lead service line to the water main, you may have to flush the water for a longer time, perhaps one minute, before drinking. Although toilet flushing or showering flushes water through a portion of your home's plumbing system, you still need to flush the water in each faucet before using it for drinking or cooking.
     
     
   • Flushing tap water is a simple and inexpensive measure you can take to protect your family's health. It usually uses less than 1 or 2 gallons of water and costs about 18 cents per month.
     
     
   • To conserve water, fill a couple of bottles for drinking after flushing the tape, and whenever possible use the first flush water to wash the dishes or water the plants.
     
     
   • If you live in a high-rise building, letting the water flow before using it may not work to lessen your risk from lead The plumbing systems have more, and sometimes larger pipes than smaller buildings. Ask your landlord for help in locating the source of the lead and for advice on reducing the lead level.
     
     
2. Try not to cook with, or drink water from the hot water tap
   • hot water can dissolve more lead quickly than cold water. If you need hot water, draw water from the cold tap and head it on the stove.
     
     
3. Remove loose lead solder and debris
   • from the plumbing materials installed in newly constructed homes, or homes in which the plumbing has recently been replaced, by removing the faucet strainers from all taps and running the water from 3 to 5 minutes. Thereafter, periodically remove the strainers and flush out any debris that has accumulated over time.
     
     
4. Check your pipes
   • if your copper pipes are joined with lead solder that has been installed illegally since it was banned in 1986, notify the plumber who did the workand request that he or she replace the lead solder with lead-free solder. (Lead solder looks dull gray, and when scratched with a key looks shiny.)
     
     
   • notify the Georgia Environmental Protection Division at +404 656 4807 about the violation.
     
     
5. Find out about your service line
   • determine whether or not the service line that connects your home or apartment to the water main is made of lead. The best way to determine if your service line is made of lead is by either hiring a licensed plumber to inspect the line or by contacting the plumbing contractor who installed the line.
     
     You can identify the plumbing contractor by checking the city's record of building permits, which should be maintained in the files of the City of LaGrange Community Development Department. A licensed plumber can at the same time check to see if your home's plumbing contains lead solder, lead pipes or pipe fittings that contain lead. The public water system that delivers water to your home should also maintain records of the materials located in the distribution system.
     
     If The Service That Connects Your Dwelling To the Water Main contributes more than 15 ppb to drinking water, we are required to replace the line. If the line is only partially control by the City of LaGrange, we are required to:
     
     
   • provide you with information on how to repalce your portion of the service line
     
     
   • offer to replace that portion of the line at your expense
     
     
   • take a follow-up tape water sample within 14 days of the replacement. (Acceptable repalcement alternatives include copper, steel, iron and plastic pipes.)
     
     
6. Have An Electrician Check Your Wiring
   • if grounding wires from the electrical systems are attached to your pipes, corrosion may be greater. Check with a licensed electrician or your local electrical code to determine if your wiring can be grounded elsewhere. DO NOT attempt to change the wiring yourself because improper grounding can cause electrical shock and fire hazards.
     
     The 6 steps described above will reduce the lead concentrations in your drinking water. However, if a water test indicates that the drinking water coming from your tap contains lead concentrations in excess of 15 ppb after flushing, or after we have completed our actions to minimize lead levels, then you may want to take the following additional measures:
     
     
     • Purchase or Lease A Home Treatment Device:
       home treatment devices are limited in that each unit treats only the water that flows from the faucet to which it is connected, and all of the devices require periodic maintenance and replacement. Devices such as reverse osmosis systems or distillers can effectively remove lead from your drinking water. Some activiated carbon filters may reduce lead levels at the tap; however, all lead reduction chaims should be investigated. Be sure to check the actual performance of a specific home treatment device before and after installing the unit.
       
       
     • Purchase Bottled Water for drinking and cooking: For Additional Information, you can consult a variety of sources. Your Family Doctor or Pediatrician can perform a blood test for lead and provide you with information about the health effects of lead. State and Local Government Agencies that can be contacted include:
       
       
       • The City of LaGrange Utilities at +706 883 2130 can provide you with information about your community's water supply, and a list of local laboratories that have been certified by the EPA for testing water quality.
         
         
       • The City of LaGrange Community Development Department at +706 883 2060 can provide you with information about building permit records that should contain the names of plumbing contractors that plumbed your home.
         
         
       • The Troup County Health Department at +706 845 4085 can provide you with information about the health effects of lead and how you can have your child's blood tested.
         
         

State-Approved Laboratories in your area that you can call to have your water tasted for lead:

• Law & Company, +770 934 8200
• Analytical Services, +770 734 4200