Lead means dread for home plumbing
Replacing affected pipes, water lines the best solution — but also costly
World Plumbing Day took place on Friday, and with all the news coverage about what’s going on in Flint, Mich., I think we can all appreciate the impact plumbing has on our lives.
It usually takes a small crisis at home — like a burst pipe or a leaky gasket — for us to realize the importance of a good plumber and reliable plumbing in our homes. But when things get bad on a much bigger scale, like water contamination in a major city, it’s a big wake- up call.
You might not know it, but in many municipalities across Canada, lead can still be found in the drinking water. It’s usually found in houses built before 1950 or so — when lead was used in plumbing supply lines. Since then, we’ve moved on to other materials, such as copper, but as recently as 1990, lead was still used in the solder to connect copper pipes.
Plumbing parts, including fixtures, fittings, faucets, valves, even some bronze fixtures can also contain lead. Water passing through these components can pick up lead along the way and end up in your drinking water, which is not good.
According to Health Canada, the maximum amount of lead that a sample of free- flowing water can have is 10 ppb ( parts per billion). Anything beyond that can be very dangerous.
But there really is no safe exposure level for lead. It can cause serious damage to your nervous system, cardiovascular system, kidneys and reproductive organs, but it’s especially dangerous to young, developing children. Because lead is more easily absorbed into growing bodies, infants, children and pregnant women are more at risk to lead exposure.
If you’re not sure if you’ve got lead water lines or lead in your drinking water, you need to have your water tested. Contact your municipality. If you do have lead pipes, the best solution is to get them completely replaced.
The problem with this is that the city is only responsible for replacing lead water lines from your property line to the street service lines. You are responsible for the part that is on your property — between the property line and your meter. Replacing these pipes can cost anywhere from $ 2,000 to $ 5,000 and, in some cases, as much as $ 10,000 depending on how much has to be dug up and replaced ( porch, lawn, walkways, etc.). Some homeowners simply can’t afford it.
What ends up happening? Only the part for which the city is responsible gets replaced — usually with copper. The pipes that homeowners have to replace themselves remain the same until they can afford to do so. Unfortunately, some reports indicate that replacing half of a lead service line can actually make things worse, causing more lead to enter water because of a chemical reaction between copper and lead.
So until you are able to get your lead pipes replaced, it’s important that you flush the standing water out before you drink it. Run the water for at least five minutes — that will remove the stale water that’s been sitting in the pipes. But remember, it’s not a permanent fix.
The good news is that some cities are introducing programs that help make replacing lead pipes affordable for homeowners. This might include things like zerointerest loans that get repaid through the home water bill or property taxes.
There are also water filters you can install directly to your drinking water lines that can help remove lead in your water, as well as built- in faucets that remove lead, so there are more affordable options that can help protect your health and your family while you work toward a more permanent solution.
World Plumbing Day offered a good reminder for everyone to make sure our home plumbing is safe. And since we’re talking about reminders, remember that clocks move ahead an hour early Sunday morning, which is also a good time to test and replace the batteries in your smoke alarms and CO ( carbon monoxide) detectors. It could save your life! It’s all about safety, folks and protecting your health at home. That’s what making it right is all about.