Lead can cause serious health issues if consumed excessively through drinking water or other sources. It might affect the brain, kidneys, and red blood cell production if it enters the body regularly.
The biggest risk of lead exposure is to kids and pregnant women. Low grades of lead can affect adults with kidney issues and high blood pressure. Lead can be held in the bones and discharged later in life. During pregnancy, the child acquires lead from the mother’s bones, which may affect brain growth.
In this blog, we will examine the causes and effects of lead in drinking water, the method of lead removal from drinking water, and the importance of lead water testing.
Some Critical Facts About Lead in Water
- Lead in drinking water can occur due to the corrosion of old pipes that supply drinking water to buildings.
- Lead pipes are rare in the United States, but some are fitted using lead-based materials and solders.
- Consuming more than 0.01 mg/litre of lead can negatively impact your health.
Also Read: Lead Abatement Explained: All You Need to Know.
What Causes Lead in Drinking Water?
Scientists discovered lead’s negative impact on health in the 1930s. After discovering these negative impacts, lead pipes were replaced with copper ones, which are safer and more environmentally friendly.
Today, very few buildings in the USA have lead piping installed. Nevertheless, problems linked with lead contamination in drinking water still occur where lead piping is corroded.
This can be a concern, particularly where water has been held within an area for several hours. This means that lead contaminations are most scary in the morning or after a building has been unused, such as enterprise offices over a weekend.
What are the Consequences of Lead in the Water?
Lead in water poses significant health risks, mainly when taken over extended periods. Even at a low level, lead can be quite dangerous for the human body. It is especially harmful to teenagers, pregnant women, and older adults. Lead exposure to water can result in growth delays, learning problems, weight loss, and hearing loss.
Scientists have discovered that the safe level of lead in water is 0.01 mg per liter. Nevertheless, municipal or federal governments frequently need to strictly comply with this level, putting communities at risk due to a lack of consistent enforcement and monitoring.
Adults who drink water tainted with lead over an extended period may develop chronic health problems. These illnesses include kidney damage, hypertension, and reproductive difficulties. Moreover, lead can build up in the body over time, raising the possibility of severe health issues.
How to Safely Remove Lead From Your Drinking Water?
Lead contamination in drinking water is a severe health risk for children and pregnant women. Luckily, there are practical methods to release lead from your water. Here are three primary methods:
1. Activated Carbon Filters
Activated carbon filters are the most renowned choice for reducing lead and other contaminants in drinking water. These carbon filters work by adsorption, where these pollutants and contaminants stick to the base of the carbon particles as water passes through.
Advantages:
- It is effective and practical. It removes many contaminants, including chlorine, lead, and volatile organic components.
- Easy to Operate: It is available in numerous forms, such as faucet-mounted filters, under-sink filters, and pitcher filters.
- Low Energy Need: It does not require high water pressure or electricity.
2. Distillation:
Distillation involves heating water until it disappears, then reducing the steam into liquid, leaving behind all impurities, including lead.
Advantages:
- Removal of Impurities: Distillation effectively removes a wide range of impurities from water, including heavy metals like lead, as well as other contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, salts, and organic compounds.
- Purification: It is one of the most effective methods for purifying water, producing high-quality distilled water that is free from most contaminants found in the original water source.
3. Reverse Osmosis:
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a highly useful method for extracting lead from water. This method involves forcing water via a semi-permeable membrane that screens out lead and other impurities.
Advantages:
- High Effectiveness: Reverse Osmosis can remove almost 99.98% of lead and other contaminants, such as fluoride, nitrate, and arsenic.
- Quality: It produces purified and high-quality water.
- Comprehensive Removal: Distillation effectively removes lead from water, viruses, bacteria, and other contaminants.
- Consistency: It provides consistent purification regardless of the initial water quality.
How do you Minimize Your Exposure to Lead?
1. Running the tap:
Although it does not completely resolve the issue, switching on your tap will let the lead-contaminated water drain, decreasing your chance of hazardous exposure.
2. Usage of cold water:
Cold water is much safer than hot water as it releases less lead from the pipes. So, it is recommended to use cold water for drinking and cooking.
Also Read: 5 Benefits of an EPA-Certified Lead Inspection Company
How do you Test for Lead in Your Drinking Water?
The major issue with lead contaminants is that they cannot be seen, touched, tasted, or smelled. However, you can check for them by analyzing the building’s old lead pipe system.
You can request a blood test sample for lead exposure, which will reveal if you have consumed lead, or contact your water supplier to assess if you doubt the presence of lead in your water supply.
Want to Remove Lead from Your Water?
Lead is a dangerous metal. Eliminating it from drinking water is crucial; otherwise, it can badly affect our health. Our technicians are skilled enough to inspect, detect, identify, and manage lead-based hazards in residential and commercial properties.
We have advanced diagnostic tools to analyze any traces of these toxic substances, such as lead, in the water and paint.
Moreover, our lead water testing services are cost-friendly and have all the necessary certifications and licenses. So, contact us now and make your water safe from lead.
