Lead in the water? (West View, Sharpsburg: how much, houses, to live in)

[KoobleKar]

My Daughter got a notice in the mail from West View Water that "some" customers have found lead in their water and that West View acknowledges that they've found lead in their water supplied to customers.

The letter goes on to tell you things about how to minimize your possible lead levels....not to boil it, use bottled water, use a filtration system (like a Britta filter) etc.

This is pretty scary stuff!!

[XRiteMA98]

I knew there was a reason why I prefer beer
Now joke aside, that's pretty scary. But I also read that bottled water is just tap water.

[KoobleKar]

I forgot to mention that they are warning customers not to use it for small children, infant formula, or your pets.

[ki0eh]

Lead in water leaches out of service lines, soldered plumbing, and faucets. What the water system is tasked by EPA to control is how corrosive the water is for lead, and the water system is required periodically to test for lead in the locations where lead is most likely found, such as older homes in the service area. Furthermore the system needs to test for the first draw off the faucet that the lead is most likely to leach into.

If the home is a newer home with newer plumbing and a newer service line, lead is much less likely to be a concern in that particular home. A newly built home may be leaching some whatever into the water from the faucet. See American Water Works Association

If the concern is lead faucets rather than a service line, rinsing out the drinking glass before filling it to drink will reduce the lead concentration that's been building up overnight. Or if you're really concerned let the cold water run until it's cooler (indicating that's from the outside rather than from the home plumbing), or a little while longer than that if the house has a lead service line. That's more revenue for the water authority too.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Lead is just one of the concerns for using tap water here. Recently we had some sore of "algae" issue with PA American Water and it stunk our house up to high hell, it was disgusting.

I'm a big fan of using filtered pitchers and being green and all that, but after that I've been going back to bottled water.

[KoobleKar]

kiOeh,

I don't think this is a problem with people's home plumbing or older houses.

If West View Water sent out letters to all of their customers, it seems more like a general problem.

I happen to live in a very old home, have Penn American Water, but have never had a problem with lead or any other substance warranting a warning from the water company.

[gg]

Maybe this will help?

Congress moves to reduce lead in drinking water (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/17/AR2010121705270.html - broken link)

If you want to have water that is really horrible, go to Sharpsburg. Wow.

[hempfield mania]

How much lead did they state was in the water? There are allowable levels and levels that are considered safe. To be truely safe, you'll need to have a filtering system installed at your tap. You water also has levels of arsenic and other contaminants but there are allowable levels of all of these.

Did anyone see the article in the Trib today regarding Hexavalent Chromium in drinking water supplies across the country. This is the stuff that made Erin Brokovich famous. Apparently, it isn't tested for (the hexavalent variety) by itself, only total chromium levels. EPA has stated it is a possible carcinogen and it hasn't been regulated, yet.

[KoobleKar]

The letter doesn't state any certain amount or level.

It was just a warning letter sent to all their customers.

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by KoobleKar

kiOeh,

I don't think this is a problem with people's home plumbing or older houses.

If West View Water sent out letters to all of their customers, it seems more like a general problem.

I happen to live in a very old home, have Penn American Water, but have never had a problem with lead or any other substance warranting a warning from the water company.

Is there any way you can post the letter? I can't find a link to it from the authority's web site. It's extremely rare for source or finished water at the treatment plant to contain lead, and if it does that's typically only in the worst of lead mining areas. What the authority presents as Water Analysis (http://www.westviewwater.org/custInfo/waterAnalysis.html - broken link) does not indicate the presence of lead.

The topic of lead in drinking water is confusing because of how EPA regulates it, basically because they can reach the drinking water supplier more than the individual customers where the source actually lies in nearly all cases.