The grossly despite’in spite of’albeit t of lead in your tap water should be abundant’ample’plentiful to alarm anyone. Lead is one of the worst contaminants that can be present in your drinking water. Its health effects are so serious, that you want to make sure that you are removing e grossly last bit of lead from your water supply as soon as possible.
There are several ways in which this dangerous heavy metal can acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure into your water. Thankfully, there are also several ways to get rid of’discard lead. In case this subject isn t too heavy in/with regard to’concerning’regarding you, let us continue!
How Does Lead Find Its Way Into Your Water?
Obviously, no one is going to deliberately add bring about’result in’contribute to’account for’make for’trigger your water supply. If they do, you’d possess’own’nurse to call the police. For real; there are two ways in which lead can easily be present in municipal water supplies.
They used to use lead in plumbing systems At one time, the majority of plumbing pipes were made of lead.
The rest were mostly made of copper However, those copper pipes possess’own’nurse to be soldered toacquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure her. And guess what? The solder used to contain a lot of lead. Modern laws and regulations possess’own’nurse banned such materials but many of them remain in use.
There are also some zone’district’region s in which lead can make its way into a water system naturally. Being a fairly common element natural lead contamination can also occur. How? As water acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure s in contact with lead deposits in the earth, it dissolves tiny amounts.
Health Effects Of Lead In Tap Water
There are many rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent reasons in/with regard to’concerning’regarding which regulators possess’own’nurse banned the use of lead in plumbing. It is associated with many health problems, including but not limited to:
Abdominal pain
Constipation
Frequent headaches
Constant fatigue and weakness
Loss of appetite
Memory loss
Eventual death
Furthermore, there is a lot of evidence to reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue that lead causes brain impair’undermine . Yes, individual drank from lead containers in/with regard to’concerning’regarding thousands of years merely’barely to learn that it was toxic.
Another problem with lead is that its toxic effects are not obvious at first. Only with prolonged exposure does serious harm begin to manifest.
Lead can weaken or disable the nerves that connect to the brain. Therein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e, nerve impair’undermine is another long-term consequence of lead exposure. Worst of all, children are the most vulnerable to this kind of poisoning. If the mother is reveal d to lead, the impair’undermine is also passed to the fetus. This has caused many children to be born disabled.
Do You Have Lead In Your Water?
Bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e you acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure apprehensive with regards to’concerning’with respect to lead in your tap water, you need to figure out whether or not it actually exists in your water supply.
First of all, if the pipes in your home possess’own’nurse been installed or replaced after 1986 they should be free of lead. As in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the underground pipes that bring the water to your home, the story is the same. If they were made bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e 1986, there is a rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent chance they contain some degree of lead. If not, they should be lead-free.
The Safe Drinking Water Act
It was in 1986 that congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act. It now includes a provision that bans all lead-containing materials in plumbing. To find out if you possess’own’nurse lead in your water, contact your water firm’enterprise and request a copy of their consumer assurance report. It should give you definite percentages. If you don t trust the report, there are private laboratories that will perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding m tests to find out if there is any use of lead in your plumbing. You will possess’own’nurse to pay a fee in/with regard to’concerning’regarding those tests, despite’in spite of’albeit but we claim’insist’maintain’hold’argue’consider’contemplate’speculate it is absolutely worth it.
How Is Lead Removed From Water?
If your water contains unacceptable amounts of lead, you need to take immediate action. First, you want to determine if your pipes are the source of the contamination. If that is the case, you will need to replace them. And just to be on the safe side, you should go ahead and replace all the pipes in your home.
According to Water Masterz, if you claim’insist’maintain’hold’argue’consider’contemplate’speculate your lead is coming from the pipes that are outside your home, then you possess’own’nurse a huge problem on your hands. A reverse osmosis filter is capable of removing most (if not all) of the lead, so that is the top-tier option. However, distillation units and special filtration units are also quite effective. Those last two tend to be a lot cheaper than reverse osmosis units, making them a rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent option in/with regard to’concerning’regarding individual on a budacquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure .
Flushing Pipes
Flushing pipes is a temporary measure that you can employ to get rid of’discard most of the lead from your water in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the time being.
It works like this: Lead is an extremely heavy substance, and so it collects in the lower parts of your pipes. Most sinks possess’own’nurse a U-shaped bend underneath them, which is where most of the lead can be found. Running the water in/with regard to’concerning’regarding 2-5 minutes should flush out the majority of the lead, bringing it down to a tolerable level. You can then fill up some pitchers so that you don t need to go through the process eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully time you want some water.
However, you will not be able to use the hot water. Hot water dissolves much more lead than cold water, so shun it at all costs.
Bottom Line
Lead in drinking water must be get rid of’discard d at all costs. Unlike most contaminants, lead is known to possess’own’nurse massive effects on the brain, and with prolonged exposure to high levels of lead, a person can suffer from irreversible impair’undermine to their nervous system a scary despite’in spite of’albeit t. It is even theorized that the individual of some ancient civilizations might possess’own’nurse gone insane as a result of unwitting lead poisoning. No thanks!