Do We Have Lead In Our Drinking Water?

The US E.P.A. (Environmental Protection Agency) performs routine tests in drinking water throughout the country, some of the recent findings raise a red flag. Is it really ok to drink from our taps? Recently there was a random lead test that resulted in an announcement telling all pregnant women to stop drinking tap water and to shut all fountains in the surrounding schools. In this case the town stopped adding a special chemical to the pipes which were supposed to keep old pipes from corroding.

Old lead water main

Old lead water main 2

In other recent tests 8,000 children under the age of 6 were exposed to unsafe levels of lead after the town’s budget cuts resulted in switching of water sources. Homeowners did not find out for over two years, at this point officials removed lead pipes feeding over 15,000 homes.

The E.P.A. says that streams tapped by water sources serving a large portion of the population are not yet governed by laws protecting the amount of toxins in our water. Lead water mains were made illegal over 30 years ago however, there are still over 8 million pipes that may allow lead into our drinking water.

Replacing lead water mains with copper

It is becoming more frequent than ever that new homeowners and parents with young children are replacing their lead water mains with new copper mains. The process is pretty straight forward and can be completed within one day in most cases.

Once the water main and sewer contractor has all required DEP and DOT permits, they can begin opening the roadway for the new piping installation.

Opening roadway for lead pipe replacement

Once the roadway is opened, the water main contractor will make tunnels from one hole, to the next.

Tunnels for new copper water main

Once all of the tunnels are completed, the new copper water main will be pulled through all of the tunnels, connected to the city main and the existing internal piping in the house.