At Nature 2 Tap we are working our best to ensure that we always offer well-rounded information, to match the quality of the service and customer experience we provide. You can find our kits on Amazon and have it delivered to you quickly and simply through Amazon Prime - start taking steps now towards learning about the lead levels in your home.

We believe that everyone should have the option to educate themselves to an extent where they feel informed enough, to be able to make an educated decision as to the steps to take at home for safety. That’s why we want to create a few pieces of written content that can help educate you, and in a sense help guide you in understanding both where the lead in your tap water may be coming from as there are many sources; as well as how to minimize the risk of allowing lead into your water on an everyday basis, through changing simple habits at home. Sound interesting? Well keep reading below for some key facts about the lead in tap water problem.

 

Before we dive into it, there will be follow up posts to this, with facts about the risks of lead in tap water also, but we don’t always want to be outlining the negative factors as there are solutions to the problem. It is a serious issue and tens of millions of people are affected on an everyday basis, but that doesn’t need to be the case!

So what is the issue with Lead in the first place? Well – Lead is a naturally occurring metal, however, it is also highly toxic for the human body. The body can mistakenly absorb it due to the similarities it shares in molecular structure to calcium. Therefore, when it is ingested in one way or another, it starts travels through vital organs as calcium would – through the brain, kidneys, liver and eventually stores in the bones and teeth, where it accumulates over time, as stated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

This leads to a number of risks in health complications including developmental issues both physically and cognitively. It is especially harmful in children where development is happening at a more rapid rate, however even in adults it is seen to lead to severe kidey damange and high blood pressure. Furthermore, it increases risks of cancer, central nervous system damage, the reproduction system and even anemia. “Severe cases of lead poisoning may cause convulsions or seizure and result in death. The consequences of lead poisoning are irreversible. The WHO says lead poisoning causes approximately 143,000 deaths globally each year.

While the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has levels it considers acceptable, there is no level of lead exposure that is considered safe. The EPA estimates around 40-million Americans are being exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water that it would consider a health risk.” - Water Right Group.

 

So how does it get into our water? Below are 6 facts about lead in tap water and where it may be more likely to be coming from or occur.

1 - How does lead get into your tap water?

The team over at Water Right Group explained it perfectly, so we left it up to them. “In most situations, lead contamination comes from outdated plumbing. Older lead pipes can exist within a municipality’s infrastructure, or there can be leaded pipes and fixtures within an individual residence.

Lead leaches into the water supply when corrosive water comes in contact with pipes and breaks the metal down, which results in lead particles contaminating the water.

In Flint, around half of the city’s service lines to homes were made of lead. The water was not being treated with an anti-corrosive agent, which the federal government requires.

The United States Congress banned the use of lead solder and restricted the lead content of faucets and pipes in 1986. However, homes built prior to the ban may still have plumbing that contains lead.

It’s believed that showering in water containing lead does not pose a health risk. But you should not drink, cook, or brush your teeth with water containing lead.

While lead can occur in water sources naturally, it rarely enters the water supply from lakes and rivers. People with private wells can experience lead contamination too. That’s because older wells may have lead in the packer, which is used to seal the well. And certain brands of pumps have components made of brass, which could also contain lead.” - Water Right Group.

2 - Does the hot water from my tap also have lead in it?

Hot water is much more corrosive than cold water, so while that hot or boiling water can kill of a number of bacteria and other things in our water which we don’t want - thinking with that mindset may actually lead to greater harm! Running our water hot through the same pipes or fixtures that have lead in them, or a lot more likely to cause the lead to leach into our water when it exits the faucet. Therefore, the lead concentration in hot water from our tap is likely to be higher.

With this being said, if you have reason to believe that your water may have lead in it, you should at all costs avoid cooking with it and absolutely not use it for baby formula.

The next point is more or less in continuation of this, and answers another common question of whether or not boiling the water can assist in removing the lead from it?

3 - Does boiling the water remove the lead?

Unfortunately, the answer to this is not even just a no, but once again it does the opposite! When you boil your water, a considerable amount of the water evaporates, which in turn actually makes the concentration of the lead even higher!

So just to emphasize once again; “boiling water does not remove lead but can actually increase its concentration” - NY Times

4 - Do all homes have a risk of finding lead in the tap water?

Homes built before 1978 are alot more likely to have lead pipes, fixtures, and solders. However, home built after 1978 are at an equally high risk of being serviced by service lines coming from water utlities which have lead in them, and a majority of utilities don’t actually know whether or not the service lines that serve their customers contain lead.

5 - Is it dangerous to shower or bath in water that might have lead in it?

Generally speaking, no, you shouldn’t be concerned about showering or bathing in water that is thought to have a lead contaminant. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) The skin does not absorb lead in the way that it can absorb chemicals, so there isn’t any inherent risk when it comes to showering in your water even if you have reason to believe that it may be contaminated. However, it is important to remember that many people, especially children, may ingest some water during the shower, so in areas or situations where the lead concentration is particularly high, like in the case of the Flint crisis for example, it would be advised to supervise young children to make sure they don’t drink any of the water while showering. These are extreme cases however, as during that crisis for example, the lead concentration levels in areas exceeded 2000 parts per billion, for over 25 minutes of continually running the water - massively exceeding the EPA “accepted” 15 parts per billion maximum.

6 - If I think there is lead in my tap water, is there any way at all to get water right now without replacing piping, fixtures or getting a filter?

Although we don’t think this is an entirely safe method, nor a method that should be practiced commonly as it is a massive use of water - the CDC has mentioned that there are ways of clearing out the lead concentration coming out of your faucet at home. If you don’t use a filter, you can flush your pipes before using or ingesting the water. This is simply by running the water at a high pressure for a prolonger period of time. The CDC says if the water has been sitting in the pipes for more than six hours run the COLD water for 1-2 minutes before using it. Also, they state that “if the lead in your home is coming from the pipes at the street, run the cold water at a high volume tap (like your shower) for 5 minutes if its been standing for more than six hours. Then, run the cold water at your kitchen on cold for another 1-2 minutes.” - NBC washington

There you have it folks. I hope that this gives you a bit more insight as to where the lead is coming from, why there may be higher concetrations at certain times or uses than others, and a few logical steps you can take moving forward to avoid seeing high levels of lead in your water.

The first step you need to take however is to test your water to see if there is lead and get an indication as to where its coming from, so make sure to head over to amazon to buy your test now and let us help you!