Advice about Lead in Drinking Water
Lead occurs naturally in our environment and can be found in soil, water, food, household dust, paint, ceramics and vehicle emissions for example.
Lead can build up in our bodies over time and can be harmful to health, particularly that of young children and pregnant women, it is therefore wise to avoid excessive exposure to lead from all sources.
In recent times action has been taken to reduce our exposure to lead from paint and vehicle exhausts and more stringent limits have been set by the European Union regarding the level of lead permissible in drinking water. In December 2003 the limit of lead in drinking water was reduced from 50 micrograms per litre (50 parts per billion) to 25 micrograms per litre and this level will reduced further to 10 micrograms per litre from 2013.
Lead in Drinking Water
Dublin City’s drinking water supply does not contain lead when it leaves the water treatment plants and there are no lead watermains in the distribution network. However, for many years lead was used in the manufacture of small diameter water supply pipes (service connections). This means that in many properties built prior to the 1960’s part, or all, of the water supply pipe from the watermain in the street to the property, as well as the internal plumbing in buildings, may be made of lead. If lead is present in your drinking water it will have been dissolved from lead pipes and fittings between the watermain in the street and your tap.
As part of our ongoing maintenance and watermains rehabilitation programme lead service pipes from the watermains to the boundary between public and private property are being replaced by the City Council. We also carry out water sampling on a continuous basis at the consumer’s tap and on those occasions when the level of lead detected exceeds the permissible limit that section of lead pipe in the public area will be replaced by us. The owner/occupier of the property will also be made aware of the situation and advised to replace any lead pipe in their internal plumbing system. Any internal work to be done will be the responsibility of the property owner/occupier.
If your property was built or has been modernised since the 1960’s, including the replacement of all pipework from the stopcock outside the premises to the kitchen tap, it is unlikely that there is lead in your supply system.
If you are unsure:
Inside the Premises
Look behind the cupboards in your kitchen and find the pipe leading to the kitchen tap, check if it is lead along as much of its length as possible. Unpainted lead pipes are dull grey in colour. They are also soft, if you scrape the surface gently with a knife you will see the shiny silver coloured metal beneath.
Outside the Premises
Open the stopcock cover on the footpath and see if you can identify the pipework material on the service pipe as above. If this cannot be done you may have to dig a small hole in your garden to gain access to the connection for identification.
Other pipe materials in common use are:
· Copper – bright, hard and dull brown
· Plastic – may be blue, grey or black
· Iron/Gun Barrell – dark, very hard, may be rusty
If there are lead pipes between the stopcock outside your property and the kitchen tap, or elsewhere in your internal plumbing system, the best thing to do is to have them replaced with copper or plastic pipes. If you remove your lead piping make sure that this does not reduce electrical safety. If your electricity supply is earthed to your lead water supply pipes it will need to be earthed by another method. If in doubt ask a qualified electrician for advice.
If you replace your internal lead pipes you can ask the City Council to replace it’s lead service connection between the watermain and your boundary. We will do this free of charge.
In the short term there are some simple precautions you can take: -
Do not drink water that has been standing in pipes for long periods, for example overnight or for longer than 6 hours.
.
In these circumstances, clear the standing water by flushing a toilet on filling a bowl of water from the kitchen tap. Don’t waste the water, use it on the garden or for something other than drinking or cooking. If your lead service connection is longer than 40metres you will need to run more than a bowlful of water to remove that water that has been in contact with the lead. You can then use the water from the kitchen tap as normal.
Whether you have lead piping or not you should only use water drawn from the kitchen tap for cooking or drinking. Do not drink water drawn from the bathroom taps.
Boiling water does not remove lead.
The City Council carries out continuous and ongoing sampling and analysis of the drinking water it supplies. If you have concerns about the presence of lead in your water supply we will on request, free of charge, take a sample from your kitchen tap and test it for lead.