
NewbrFederal Regulation Regarding Lead in Water
Sponsored by Berkeys Air Conditioning and Plumbing
It's a New Year for our water system. Congressbrenacted the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act on January 4, 2011 tobrrevise the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) regarding the use of lead pipes,brfittings or fixtures, solder and flux. The law makes it illegal to sell or installbrpipes, fittings and fixtures for transporting water for human consumption thatbrhave a lead content exceeding 0.25%. The Act established an effective datebrof January 4, giving public utilities, government agencies and others three yearsbrto make a transition to the new rules. With this new law, repairs and improvements to ourbrpipes may impact our water usage.
Leadbris a common metal found in natural deposits. It's used in household plumbingbrmaterials and service lines. It's rarely found in our water sources. Leadbrenters our water through corrosion of plumbing materials. However, even “lead-free”brplumbing may contain up to 8% lead. Most copper, brass or chrome-plated pipes, asbrwell as faucets or fixtures are bonded together using lead soldering, which canbrleach lead into the water — especially hot water.
Leadbrcan cause various adverse health effects. In infants and children, it can causebrdelays in physical and mental development; deficits in attention span andbrlearning abilities. In adults, it can cause increases in blood pressure and kidneybrproblems.
Any water, including bottled water, isbrexpected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminant. However, this doesn'tbrmean that the water isn't safe. Dallas WaterbrUtilities tests the water 40,000 to 50,000 times every month. The waterbrprovided is considered non-corrosive — meaning that it's less likely to leachbrlead from pipes. Almost all water treatment facilities have a “multi-barrier system” inbrplace that's supposed to keep the bad stuff out even when one of the barriersbrfails. Dallas Water Utilities and the City of Ft. Worth both provide theirbrannual Water Quality Report on their websites.
Contamination can occur betweenbrthe facility and our faucets. When public utilities repair or improve our water supplybrsystem, they may expose old lead pipes and solder, which may temporarily increasebrthe lead content of the water. Most homeowners don't know thatbrwork on the water supply system is being done or that the water may be contaminated.brUnder federal guidelines, utility companies are rarely required to informbrresidents.
In addition to lead, our pipes may containbrbacteria, metals, chemicals and minerals. Some of them may interact with ourbrpipes, which may cause additional exposure to other metals. Luckily, home improvementbrstores carry home-testing kits that include lead and other metals, bacteria,brand common pesticides. These water test kits are relatively easy to use, butbrresearch them carefully. Your plumbing professionals may have better testingbrservices.
Once it's determined what is in our water, we canbrinstall treatment systems to remedy any issues. Water treatment devices can improve the water quality by reducingbrhealth hazards and help remove nuisance problems, odors or hardness. Water treatment systems generally use one or abrcombination of treatments, like disinfection,brfiltration, reverse osmosis, distillation, and ion exchange (water softeners). There are benefits to eachbrsystem. Beforebryou make any decisions, you should call your certified plumber.
Forbrmore information, call Berkeys Air Conditioning &brPlumbing 24/7 at 817-481-5869 or visit www.Berkeys.com for questions and scheduling information orbron Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Berkeys.
About Berkeys
Berkeys is an award winning home service company, providing quality plumbing, air conditioning, and heating services to homeowners in the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex for over 35 years.
All of our technicians, are background-checked, drug tested and have passed rigorous state examinations and are licensed by the State of Texas; they understand the complexity of state codes all the way down to local requirements.