Are you at risk with Lead Contaminated Drinking Water?

Why Are you at risk with Lead Contaminated Drinking Water?

Of the 3,143 counties in the US, just over half of them, 1,573 report having lead contaminated drinking water. 21 states don’t regularly report lead data to the CDC, but if you live in the NorthEast or Midwest, your risk of

having lead contaminated drinking water is very high. Every major city east of the Mississippi river is at risk, along with the entire South. The EPA estimates that over 10 Million homes are served with lead service lines.

How to determine if you are at risk for lead contaminated drinking water

Use the checklist below to figure out if your home may be at risk for having lead service lines. If you are at risk, Life Ionizers recommends having your water tested immediately. There are water filters you can use to protect your family from the lead in your water:

• Does your local water quality report show lead in your water supply

• Is your home built before 1986

• Do you have copper or other metal pipes

• Is your home in the NorthEast, South, or MidWest

• Do you have a well that’s more than 20 years old

• If you have metal pipes, have they been worked on recently

• Have lead service lines in your city recently been replaced

 

If you answered yes to two or more of the above questions. you should get your water tested for lead immediately. If lead is found in your water supply, try to avoid drinking your tap water until you can install a filtration system the reduces lead. It is OK to shower or bathe in lead-tainted water, because lead isn’t absorbed through the skin. If you do bathe in water with lead in it, be sure to avoid getting that water in your mouth.

How these factors increase your risk of lead contaminated drinking water

Your local water quality report is filed with the EPA annually, it is a helpful source of information for figuring out if you have lead in your water. However, there are many reports of cities intentionally diluting water test samples and doing other things to distort and under-report lead levels in their water supply, so even if lead isn’t reported in your water quality report, that does not mean you’re in the clear.

Lead service lines weren’t banned until 1986. So if your home was built before 1986, you may have a lead service line connecting your home to city water. If the city does any work that affects your service line, if it’s made of lead that work can temporarily spike lead levels in your water supply. “There is nothing a water utility can do to completely prevent lead leaching from a lead service line,” said Yanna Lambrinidou, a water safety expert who teaches at Virginia Tech.

Copper and other metal pipes May be joined together by lead solder. If that’s the case, the water flowing through those pipes can pick up lead from the solder that your local water quality report will miss. If you have metal pipes in your home, it’s very important to have your water tested for lead.

If your home is in the NorthEast, Midwest or South your risk of lead contaminated drinking water increases substantially because most of the problems with lead occur in those regions. In the NorthEast or the MidWest, the problem is primarily due to older homes with lead pipes, and older service lines. If you live in the South, your risk is even higher due to the poorly regulated use and production of coal. When it is burned, mined, or processed, coal releases large amounts of many harmful heavy metals, including lead.

Wells that are more than 20 years old may contain lead in the “packer”, a part used to seal the well above the well screen. Older submersible pumps may also contain lead. If you are on well water, it’s a good idea to have your water tested for lead. If lead is found, you have options:

• Remove the lead parts
• Put an anti-corrosion treatment in your water that coats the lead parts
• Install filtration to reduce the amount of lead in your water

 

If you have metal pipes that have been worked on recently that can cause lead levels in your water to spike. To reduce your exposure, remove the aerators from your faucets, clean out any particles trapped within them, and reinstall them. Make sure to let the water run for about two minutes prior to using it if it has been sitting in the pipes for more than a couple of hours. You should also consider installing drinking water filters on any faucets used to get drinking water.

If any lead service lines in your neighborhood have been recently worked on or replaced, that can cause lead levels in your water to spike. Reduce your exposure using the same methods described above: Clean the faucet aerators of any debris, let water run for at least two minutes, and install filtration to protect yourself.

Water Filtration systems for Lead

Thankfully, there are water filtration systems widely available that can reduce lead (and other heavy metals) in water. Life Ionizers carries many different filtration systems that contain ion-trapping technology, granular activated carbon, and other effective filtration technologies that reduce lead.

Filter systems from Life Ionizers that reduce lead

• All Life Alkaline Water Ionizers come with filters that reduce lead.
• Dolphin Whole House Filter
• Austin Springs Whole House Filter
• Micro Z Carbon Whole Home Filtration System
• Life Heavy Metal Super Filter
• Arsenic Lead and Fluoride filter
• Activated Carbon
• Carbon Block
• Reverse Osmosis

Yes, our ionizer filter the toxins in your water supply

Customers who purchase a Life Water Ionizer get a free, custom configured prefiltration system with their ionizer purchase. So if you are concerned about any pollutants in your water, just mention them, and your ionizer will be equipped with the filters to address them.

Get better health and peace of mind with a Life Water Ionizer. Call us at 877-959-7977 for a free consultation. We’ll help you solve your water problems