How Dangerous is Lead in Water?
Keeping your water safe and clean to drink is essential for your health and the health of your family. Lead and other contaminants can get into your water and can put you and your family’s health at risk.
How is Lead Entering the Drinking Water?
Lead enters the drinking water through corrosion, which is the wearing away or dissolving of metal due to a chemical reaction between the water and your plumbing. There are a variety of factors involved in how much lead enters the water, including:
- Acidity, alkalinity, and mineral content of the water
- The temperature of the water
- How long the water is in the pipes\
- Whether there are protective coatings or scales in the plumbing\
- Amount of lead the water encounters
How Much Lead is Safe?
The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) sets the maximum allowable lead content or what content is considered lead-free, at a weighted average of .25. This percentage is including all wetted surface of pipe fitting, pipes, fixtures, and plumbing fittings. This also includes 0.2 percent for solder and flux. The maximum contaminant level is set at zero, which is the level at which no adverse health effects will occur.
Lead is toxic and can bioaccumulate over time. Younger children, infants, and fetuses are at a higher risk of health problems due to lead exposure. While an adult may not be affected at certain levels, even at low levels a child could suffer physical and behavioral effects such as:
- Slowed growth
- Anemia
- Lower IQ
- Hyperactivity
- Hearing problems
- Learning and behavioral problems
Pregnant women exposed to lead may experience reduced growth of the fetus or premature birth. An adult can also suffer from health problems such as:
- Cardiovascular effects
- Reproductive problems (in both men and women)
- Decreased kidney function
- Increased blood pressure
- Incidence of hypertension
What You Can Do to Make Your Drinking Water Safe
If you are concerned you may have lead in your water in the Butler area, Aqua Solutions can help. We offer expert water testing to help you determine if your water is safe for drinking. Once we have tested your water, we can make recommendations for a water treatment system that will best suit your needs.
Our priority is helping you achieve and maintain safe drinking water for you and your family. We offer a variety of effective, high-quality water treatment systems including reverse osmosis systems that are highly effective at reducing and eliminating lead levels in your drinking water.
Contact us today to schedule your water testing and to learn more about our water treatment and water filter solutions in Butler!
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Main Office
112 Bartley Ave
Butler, PA 16001