Drinking Water Educational Booklet Know Your H20 (Water) – Part of the Healthy Home and Healthy Water Outreach Effort. The Booklet is a resource for private water well owners and customers of community and non-community water supply sources
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Rick Grant, 570-497-5850
B.F. Environmental Updates Popular Drinking Water Guide
The 2024 KnowYourH2O guide includes updated and expanded content.
WILKES-BARRE, PA—August 12, 2024—B.F. Environmental Consultants, an environmental consulting firm providing a range of services throughout the Northeast, announced today that company consultants working with the Keystone Clean Water Team, a Pennsylvania-based non-profit, have released an updated version of their popular KnowYourH2O Drinking Water Guide. The new version covers both Private Water systems and Public Water supplies. It includes updated content, new graphics related to water well systems and lead service lines, and information about forever chemicals and PFAS.
“When we wrote the first version of this guide, people needed to know how to determine the quality of the water their families were drinking,” said Brian Oram, a professional geologist, soil scientist, and founder of B.F. Environmental Consultants. “A lot has changed since then, including new testing methodologies and new risks to our groundwater and drinkable water. What hasn’t changed is the vital importance of clean water. The 5th edition booklet provides a readily available fact-based source of information related to drinking water quality, contaminants, water treatment, and a means to easily understand your drinking water quality and identify problems.”
The new drinking water educational booklet is for private well owners, city water users, water professionals, and educators. It provides general information explaining certified water testing, chain-of-custody, and drinking water regulations and standards. It provides information related to the health (primary standards) or aesthetic (secondary standards) concerns for each parameter and provides information on water quality parameters that do not specifically have a drinking water limit.
Oram and the team at B.F. Environmental are key contributors to the Know Your H2O website, which includes basic water testing and water quality information, as well as educational resources designed to help better understand the complexities of water quality through a review of the basics of physics, chemistry, and biology that impact our water.
Oram was also instrumental in the development of a free Surface Water Quality Index Calculator, which is available to the public through the “Know Your H20” his company supports. The new online WQI Calculator provides a user-friendly website interface, allowing users to add a GPS location to the database or locate the unique sampling site, using an online mapping tool.
Using the tool, users input basic information about the surface water test site as well as other field data they have collected. The calculator then completes the necessary interpretations and generates the customized report. The online calculator provides the individual ranking or score for each parameter, calculates the weighted average ranking for the test site, and allows the user to generate a customized report for each sampling site.
For more information about any of these programs or to preorder your copy of the new booklet, visit the website. Get a copy of the booklet signed by Brian Oram here. If you are looking to order 1 copy of this booklet, please use the form below. If you are looking to order multiple copies, please contact Mr. Brian Oram at brian.oram@knowyourh2o.com or use this link.
About B.F. Environmental Consultants, Inc.
B.F. Environmental Consultants, based in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Poconos, has been providing professional geological, soils, hydrogeological, and environmental consulting services and professional, professional and environmental training courses, and environmental outreach and education, since 1985.
Alkaline water is slightly less acidic than regular drinking water and contains alkaline minerals with a pH > 7. Alkaline water has a higher pH level than most tap water and well water sources that are used for drinking water. In fact, in Pennsylvania, a primary problem with well water is that water is acidic and corrosive to the piping and it is recommended that a whole-house water treatment system a neutralizer be installed. Most tap water has a pH from about 6.5 to 7.5, but alkaline water may range from 8 to 9. Alkaline water tends to have a high alkalinity and mineral content that includes calcium and magnesium as the dominant positive cations, but in some cases a natural water may be high in sodium or potassium. As the pH of the water increases, the redox potential (Eh) of the water becomes more negative, but the degree of change is not just a function of the pH it depends on the water ionic chemistry.
In drinking water, “redox potential is a measure of the tendency of the solution to either gain or lose electrons in a reaction. A solution with a higher (more positive) reduction potential than some other molecule will have a tendency to gain electrons from this molecule (i.e. to be reduced by oxidizing this other molecule) and a solution with a lower (more negative) reduction potential will have a tendency to lose electrons to other substances (i.e. to be oxidized by reducing the other substance).” (Source: Wikipedia) The redox potential of the water can be measured using an 0xidation‐Reduction Potential (ORP) sensor. The Eh of the water is related to the ORP measurement based on the type of sensors used in the ORP meter.
Oxidation‐Reduction Potential (ORP) is a measurement of the relative oxidizing or reducing condition of water and is typically monitored using a handheld voltage meter that measures the electrical potential between a platinum electrode and a reference electrode. When the ORP value is positive this indicates an oxidizing environment while a negative value would suggest a more reducing condition. The Eh, or redox potential, can be used to estimate the reduction potential for your drinking water.
If the sensor is made using an Ag/AgCl reference electrode with a 1 M KCl fill solution the correction factor is + 236 mv.
If the sensor is made using an Ag/AgCl reference electrode with a saturated KCl fill solution the correction factor is + 197 mv.
For example, the Orp Sensor is a platinum ‐ Ag/Ag Cl electrode where the reference electrode is filled with 1 M KCL and you get a reading on the sensor of – 125 the actual EH of the fluid is:
-125 mv + 200 mv = 75 mv
DIY Alkaline Water systems are designed to initially provide a physical barrier to remove contaminants and purify the water to remove chlorine by-products, particles 5 micron or greater, and heavy metals. An alkaline water system manufactured by Crystal Quest has a GAC and anionic resin to pesticides & herbicides, volatile organic compounds, pharmaceutical by-products & other inorganic substances such as petroleum byproducts. The final filter increases the calcium and magnesium content of the water and the water pH.
There is a lot of controversy related to the consumption and use of alkaline water and ionized water. The following is a taste of some of the available information on this topic.
We are not advocating for the consumption of either approach, but we think the user and customer should have the facts and available information and make a choice that meets there needs and their personal preferences. The Keystone Clean Water TEAM and the Know Your H20 Team are not ADVOCATES or Warriors Just Scientists. We provided this information to address questions asked as part of our education and outreach efforts.
A 1999 study showed an “Increased bile acid excretion and reduction of serum cholesterol after crenotherapy with salt-rich mineral water” (Source)
A 2017 study titled “ Natural mineral waters: chemical characteristics and health effects”, reviewed the potential health benefits and side-effects associated with the consumption of natural mineral water, Bicarbonate mineral water, Sulphate mineral waters, Chloride mineral waters, Magnesiac mineral waters, Fluorurate mineral waters, Ferrous mineral waters, and Sodium-rich mineral water. (Source)
Mineral waters and bone health (2004) “Since potassium and bicarbonate lower renal calcium excretion, and since the latter improves calcium balance, mineral waters rich in bicarbonate and potassium have been tested. Indeed, they lowered renal calcium excretion and bone resorption in short- and medium-term trials, and they could be of particular interest in the prevention of osteoporosis in addition to calcium-rich waters.”
Personal – Adults get to make a choice and we all have personal preferences and slightly different sensors when it goes to the smell and taste of water.
More Blog Posts
Chlorophyll Water – New Clean Label Certification– Chlorophyll Water is a purified water beverage enhanced by nature with the addition of Chlorophyll, a key ingredient and the vital green pigment in plant life. Chlorophyll Water is a refreshing introduction to the many benefits of Chlorophyll along with the added health benefits of Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Vitamin C and Vitamin D for enhanced hydration.
Feedback and Analysis on the Safety of Fluoride in Drinking Water -Part of the KnowYourH2O Team philosophy is adherence to the scientific method. We are open to having our existing knowledge and any information we provide examined for the benefit of improving our own knowledge and in turn sharing it with our audience.
The Relationship Between Water and Weight Loss– Drinking enough water is one of the most important things that can be done for one’s health. With the right quantity and quality of water, you can stay well hydrated to ensure that bodily functions run smoothly. This includes weight loss, as numerous sources, including the National Health and Nutritional Examination surveys, reveal that there is a link between hydration levels and weight. Evidence suggests that those who are more chronically dehydrated are likely to have higher body weight.
Healthy Drinking Water and Healthy Homes – Communicating to the Public What is a Drinking Water Advisory?
DO NOT PANIC ! What are Drinking Water Advisories and What Should You Do ?
Drinking water advisories let customers know that their tap water or drinking water could be contaminated and make them sick. There are no advisories for private well owners or drinking water systems that are NOT regulated. Advisories are used to send a message to users, customers, individuals, business, schools and other institutions that there is a potential problem with the water and how to act without getting into the details that are part of a Community Water Supply System or a regulated Non-Community System like a school, gasoline station that serves food, etc. One thing we learned from Flint, Michigan and other case studies is that the citizens and most users do not really know what a “Drinking Water Advisory Means” and most Authorities or Water Companies DO NOT Know How to Explain the Situation.
The drinking water advisories typically fall into one of these 3 categories: “Boil Water Advisory”, “Do Not Drink Advisory”, and “Do Not Use Advisory”. Just to confuse you a little more, there is also something called a Health Advisories that are published by EPA and we will deal with these separately.
Boil Water Advisory
If your local health officials, water company, water provider, or Authority issues a boil water advisory, you should take the immediate action of not using your drinking water for consumption (DO NOT DRINK !).
The boil water advisory means that the water may or does contain a pathogen, i.e., a disease-causing agent. The primary actions would include establishing another temporary water source, such as bottled or bulk water, or boiling the water prior to use and consumption. (Please Note: I did not say filter the water or Microwave the water and I did not say drink hot water. I said BOIL!)
Boil water advisories the details.
Use bottled water, bulk drinking water, or boiled water for drinking, and to prepare and cooking food, feeding the pets, brushing your teeth, and making baby formula.
If bottled water is not available, bring your tap water to a full rolling boil for 1 minute for elevations below 6,500 feet and if you live at an elevation of over 6,500 feet a 3 minute rolling boil is needed. After boiling, allow the water to cool before use and while it is cooling give a good shake to try and “re-aerate” the water, it will taste better.
Do not use ICE comes from your automatic ice maker even if the unit has a filter or inline UV unit, the water must be cooled and then cooled and then you can make ice.
Breastfeeding is the better choice. If you formula feed your child, provide ready-to-use formula, if possible, or the water must be boiled (not Microwavedor heated) and cooled. The boiled water should be used within 72 hours (Source: Allinahealth.org)
In many cases, you can use tap water and soap to wash hands during a boil water advisory. DO NOT wash your hands in boiling water or hot water. Follow the guidance from your local public health officials.
Be sure to scrub your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Then, rinse them well under running water, but make sure to dry your hands.
Be careful not to swallow any water when bathing or showering.
Use caution when bathing babies and young children. Consider giving them a sponge bath to reduce the chance of them swallowing water. You do not need to use bottled water, but you can if you wish.
Brushing teeth
Brush teeth with boiled water that has cooled or bottled water. Do not use tap water that you have not boiled. You may want to then store your toothbrush in some saline or salt water to prevent bacterial regrowth.
Washing dishes
If possible, use disposable plates, cups, and utensils during a boil water advisory.
Household dishwashers generally are safe to use if:
The water reaches a final rinse temperature of at least 150 degrees Fahrenheit (66°Celsius), or
The dishwater has a sanitizing cycle.
At the end of the boil water advisory, we recommend running a sanitizing cycle and using a dishwasher cleaner tablet approved by the manufacturer.
Wash and rinse the dishes as you normally would using hot water.
In a separate basin, add 1 teaspoon of unscented household liquid bleach for each gallon of warm water.
Soak the rinsed dishes in the water for at least one minute.
Let the dishes air dry completely before using again.
Laundry
Washing Clothes (Assuming the drinking water is not discolored or turbid)
Assuming the water is not discolored or turbid, it is likely safe to wash clothes as usual, but I would clean the unit by using chlorine or a citric acid cleaner or a clothes washer cleaner tablet approved by the manufacturer.
Do Not Drink Water Advisory
Local health authorities issue a do not drink water advisory when your community’s water is, or could be, contaminated with harmful chemicals and toxins, and when boiling water will not make it safe.
Authorities may recommend limited use of tap water for some tasks, depending on the harmful chemical or toxin contaminating the water. Follow health officials’ advice carefully to protect your health and your family’s health.
During a do not drink water advisory, use bottled water for: drinking and cooking, brushing teeth, washing fruits and vegetables, preparing food, mixing baby formula, making ice, and drinking water to pets and livestock.
In some instances, it will be safe to wash hands, flush toilets and shower; in other instances, it will not. You should be cautious when bathing a baby and young children; they might swallow water.
Do not drink or use water from any appliance connected to your water supply lines. This includes the water and ice dispensers in your refrigerator, freezer and dishwasher.
Do Not Use Water Advisory
Local health authorities issue a do not use water advisory when your community’s water is, or could be, contaminated with germs, harmful chemicals, toxins, or radioactive materials. Under this advisory any contact, even with the skin, lungs, or eyes, can be dangerous. Do not drink or use tap water from the impacted system for any purpose as long as the advisory is in effect, including for bathing. These types of advisories are rare.
EPA Health Advisory (HAs)
HAs primarily serve as information to drinking water systems and officials responsible for protecting public health when emergency spills or other contamination situations occur. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) authorizes EPA to issue HAs for contaminants that are not subject to a National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) (Source: 42 U.S.C. §300g-1(b)(1)(F)). HA documents provide technical information on chemical and microbial contaminants that can cause human health effects and are known or anticipated to occur in drinking water. HA values/levels identify the concentration of a contaminant in drinking water at which adverse health effects and/or aesthetic effects are not anticipated to occur over specific exposure duration (e.g., 1 day, 10 days, a lifetime).
HA: Health Advisory- An estimate of acceptable drinking water levels for a chemical substance based on health effects information; a Health Advisory is not a legally enforceable Federal standard, but serves as technical guidance to assist Federal, state, and local officials.
“One-day HA: The concentration of a chemical in drinking water that is not expected to cause any adverse noncarcinogenic effects for up to one day of exposure
Ten-day HA: The concentration of a chemical in drinking water that is not expected to cause any adverse noncarcinogenic effects for up to ten days of exposure.
Lifetime HA: The concentration of a chemical in drinking water that is not expected to cause any adverse noncarcinogenic effects for a lifetime of exposure.”
The Healthy Homes, Healthy Communities, and Healthy Drinking Water Initiatives or Programs
The Healthy Homes Program / Healthy Home Initiates
“Environmental hazards in the home potentially harm millions of children each year. The Healthy Homes Program addresses multiple childhood diseases, exposures, and injuries that may originate in the home. The Initiative has a focus on housing-related hazards and educating and informing the public. This was one of the key factors missing in the Flint Michigan Drinking Water Crisis. In response to Congress, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched its Healthy Homes Initiative (HHI) in 1999. The objective of the program was to protect children and their families from housing-related health and safety hazards.
HUD has developed a new Healthy Homes Strategic plan that lays out the next steps their office will take to advance the healthy homes agenda nationwide. The HHI builds upon HUD’s successful Lead Hazard Control programs to expand its efforts to address a variety of environmental health and safety concerns including: mold , lead , allergens/ asthma, air quality gases and VOCs , pesticides , and radon .”
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) developed the Healthy Communities Program (HCP). The program uses local, state, territory, and national partnerships to attempt to prevent chronic diseases and reduce health disparities (Note: For me this is a buzz word related to equity, we will never have equal outcomes in communities because of genetics, individual choice, and economics, and lifestyle issues, but we can attempt to treat all individuals equally).
Nearly 50% Americans die of one chronic disease, such as: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer (polycythemica vera/ radon), obesity, and arthritis.
Chronic diseases make up 7 of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States and based on our recent experience with COVID, these diseases made individuals more vulnerable to the negative and adverse impacts associated with COVID-19. Not only can these diseases result in death, they can also be associated with chronic pain, inability to function and support an individual or family, limit daily activities, and significant impact a family’s budget and health care costs.
The Healthy Communities Program attempts to raise awareness and provide fact-based information, but also encourage citizens to make better choices, increase physical activity, make better food choices, and reduce the use of tobacco. These efforts addressed key factors that raise the risk of disease, including: CDC funded 331 communities and 52 state and territorial health departments through HCP .
Drinking water comes from a variety of sources including public water systems , private wells , or bottled water. Ensuring safe and healthy drinking water may be as simple as turning on the tap from an EPA-regulated public water system. Other water sources may need to have point-of-use or whole house filtration systems, citizens educated and informed, water quality monitored, water distribution systems flushed and septic systems need to be serviced or inspected. It is important to know where drinking water comes from, how it’s been treated, and if it’s safe to drink. Therefore, it is important to Know Your H20 and Get on the Path to Clean Water.
3M Agrees to EPA Order to Sample and Provide Treatment for PFAS Contamination in Drinking Water near Cordova, IL Facility
EPA Enforcement Part of Agency Strategy to Characterize and Address PFAS Releases from Major Manufacturers
WASHINGTON (November 3, 2022) – Today, the 3M Company agreed to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order to sample and provide treatment to address contamination from per- and polyfluoroakyl substances (PFAS) found in drinking water in the vicinity of 3M’s Cordova, IL facility. Recent sampling results provided by 3M indicate the widespread presence of a mixture of at least 19 different PFAS chemicals in drinking water within a 3-mile radius of the Cordova facility. Given the unique circumstances affecting this community, including more than five decades of PFAS discharges and the many types of PFAS chemicals found, EPA has concluded that the situation constitutes an imminent and substantial endangerment under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
“I have directed EPA staff to use every enforcement tool at our disposal to require manufacturers of PFAS to address potential endangerment to the public and to compel them to characterize, control, and clean up ongoing and past PFAS contamination,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Communities have suffered far too long from exposure to these chemicals. This settlement is a critical step forward in our work to protect communities from pollution and hold polluters accountable for their actions.”
As part of this settlement, 3M is required to offer treatment to all private well owners within 3 miles of the facility and to the Camanche Water Supply in Iowa, in an effort to remove PFAS from the drinking water. 3M is also required to offer drinking water sampling out to 4 miles from the facility for private well owners and out to 10 miles from the facility for public water systems as well as to the Quad Cities’ public water systems, using EPA protocols and conducted under EPA oversight.
3M’s sampling of the drinking water in private wells near the facility detected a range of concentrations including: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) of non-detect to 25 ppt, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) of non-detect to 30 ppt, hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA), or “GenX” of non-detect to 59 ppt, and perfluorobutane sulfunate (PFBS) of non-detect to 51 ppt. 3M did not use EPA test methods for this sampling. As a result, the order issued today requires 3M to sample these wells again following EPA test methods.
3M was one of the original companies developing and producing PFAS within the United States, and their Cordova facility operations and discharges containing PFAS chemicals date back to the 1970s. 3M’s agreement to the terms of the Order including completing the work required under EPA’s oversight is an important step to begin addressing the problem created by decades of contamination. This settlement is part of EPA’s ongoing efforts to compel major PFAS manufacturers to characterize and control ongoing releases from their facilities.
Background
Last year, EPA launched the PFAS Strategic Roadmap, a whole-of-agency approach for addressing PFAS. The Roadmap sets timelines by which EPA plans to take specific actions and commit to new policies to safeguard public health, protect the environment, and hold polluters accountable. In the national PFAS Roadmap, EPA commits to investigate releases of PFAS and where needed require manufacturers to characterize and control their PFAS releases. In the Roadmap, EPA also commits to take swift action to address potential endangerments to public health. EPA is actively working with its state partners on this effort, which will build upon valuable work led by a number of states.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively called “PFAS,” are a group of man-made chemicals that have been manufactured and used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s. There are thousands of different PFAS chemicals, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others.
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the Final Fifth Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 5), which will serve as the basis for EPA’s regulatory considerations over the next five-year cycle under the Safe Drinking Water Act. This update includes a substantial expansion of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), an important first step towards identifying additional PFAS that may require regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
“Following public engagement and robust scientific review, the final contaminant candidate list is the latest milestone in our regulatory efforts to ensure safe, clean drinking water for all communities,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox. “As EPA takes action to protect public health and the environment from PFAS, including proposing the first nationwide drinking water standards later this year, today’s final CCL 5 looks further forward to consider additional protective steps for these forever chemicals.”
A year ago, EPA published the PFAS Strategic Roadmap, outlining an Agency-wide approach to addressing PFAS in the environment. Today’s announcement strengthens EPA’s commitment to protect public health from impacts of PFAS and support the Agency’s decision-making for potential future regulations of PFAS.
In developing the Final CCL 5, EPA requested public nominations, providing an opportunity for people to make recommendations to the Agency about specific contaminants of concern that may disproportionally affect their local community. EPA further enhanced the CCL process based on comments received on this CCL and previous CCLs, including by prioritizing data most relevant to drinking water exposure, improving considerations of sensitive populations including children, and considering the recommendations included in the Review of the EPA’s Draft Fifth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 5) report from the Science Advisory Board. These improvements resulted in a Final CCL 5 that can better inform prioritization of contaminants for potential regulatory actions and/or research efforts.
“Public perception of freshwater is often dominated by visions of rivers and lakes. Groundwater is rarely a part of that imagination. Historically, it has been a hidden resource, and it remains so even now. The irony is that aquifers contain over 98% of Earth’s liquid freshwater.
Global and national water data are not very reliable. It is estimated that on a global basis, groundwater provides 36% of potable water, 24% of industrial water supply and 42% of water for irrigation. These estimates vary. In some countries, agriculture consumes the lion’s share of groundwater. Withdrawals from the Arabian aquifer system, for example, account for 84% of the region’s freshwater resources, most of which is used for farming. Human dependence on groundwater and the associated challenges varies considerably from one place to another, even within countries. Groundwater levels in some of the most densely populated river basins, such as the Indus and the Ganges-Brahmaputra basins in South Asia, have been plummeting. Groundwater’s invisibility and the lack of political interest are two key reasons that exploited aquifers are neither easy nor quick to remedy.”
Read More – https://thewaternetwork.com/article-FfV/we-must-address-unsustainable-groundwater-management-Dzy5c_4XpAHdy70I_0mQ1w
Other Guides on Groundwater and Water
Water in the Universe -https://www.knowyourh2o.com/indoor-3/water-in-the-universe The Water Cycle – https://www.knowyourh2o.com/outdoor-4/the-hydrological-cycle
Article for: private well owner, spring user, city water customer, regulated water supply, water utility customer, homeowner, landlord, tenant, drinking water
The Flint water crisis reportedly started in 2014 and ended in 2019, but in reality the “crisis” started prior to 2014 and probably has not ended. Why? The problem with corrosion within the water system and individual’s homes clearly started prior to 2014 and the customers and users within the system were not aware of the short-comings in their drinking water quality, the need for corrosion control, need to replace service laterals, plumbing within their homes, the need to be proactive in protecting your personal and families’ health, lack of public outreach and education, and not knowing the wrong signs of a corrosion problem The main purpose of this article is to help identify the warning signs of a potential corrosion problem with your drinking water. The signs of a corrosion problem come in many forms, but it is important for the user to take responsibility for keeping their eyes open. Corrosion of our drinking water supplies is a very common water quality and public health issue that is related to not only the raw water quality, level of pretreatment, status of the community distribution system, the internal plumbing for a building, the usage and management of water within the building, and the fixtures used within the system. This sounds overwhelming, but there are clear warning signs you may have a problems.
The most common signs of a problem with corrosion included the following:
Staining of porcelain fixtures, such as sinks, drains, or tubs that appear green, blue-green, and reddish brown.
Coatings on aeration devices that appears greenish-gray or bluish green and particles on the screen of the aerator that appear green, bluish-green, greenish-gray, reddish-brown, yellow-brown, or even bluish-gray.
Discoloration of water piping near solder joints and/or pin-hole leaks in piping and the premature failure of water appliances and water heaters.
Old piping in a home that may include lead pipes or piping that was installed using high lead solder, such as lead service lines and galvanized piping.
The first flush of the water from the tap may have a bitter taste.
What is the age of your home, when was the house last remodeled, and the piping in your home?
YOUR household plumbing may be the cause for lead in your drinking water. In older homes, lead was used to make the piping and/or solder. In homes, built prior to 1930’s water pipes were primarily made from lead. These pipes can be identified because the piping tends to have a dull gray color, can be scratched with a key, and a magnet will not stick to the piping. In buildings built between the 1930’s and early 1980’s, copper pipes were often used, but the solder contained elevated levels of lead. The primary source of the lead includes the use of lead pipes, lead lined tanks, and use of 50/50 lead/tin solder. Because of the concern with lead, the EPA banned the use of high lead solders in 1986.
In the 1950’s and 1960’s galvanized water lines was utilized in new home construction. Currently, this type of piping is not widely used, but it is more commonly used with well water applications. This piping is steel piping that has a zinc coating to reduce the tendency for the piping to corrode. When this pipe corrodes, the pipe rust from the inside of the pipe and then works outward. When this occurs, the water may produce intermittent discolored water that tends to be brown, yellow, or reddish brown, and the piping will likely clog with rust and most likely collapse over time. This does not mean that a newer home is safe from lead contamination; in fact, the available data suggests that buildings less than 5 years old can have high levels of lead.
In fact, buildings built prior to 1986 likely contain some lead plumbing. Prior to 2014, the legal definition for “lead free” was plumbing fixtures with a lead content of less than 8 %. In 2014, the term was redefined to include only fixtures with a lead content of 0.25% and newly installed fixtures must use the “lead free” materials, but this did not apply to fixtures currently in use.
What You Can Do to Protect Yourself and Your Family?
After getting this information, you should do the following:
Inspect your plumbing system for signs or evidence of a corrosion problem and low cost lead screening testing (water) or (paint,dust, soil).
Take note of the visual and aesthetic signs of a corrosive water problem.
Get Your Drinking Water Tested and the Results Reviewed by a Professional. At a minimum, we recommend the “Corrosion Check” Water Test Kit.
Act to improve your drinking water quality by reporting problems to your local water authority for public water supplies or if your water comes from a private water source take the necessary action to reduce the risk to the health of yourself and your family and to reduce the potential costs associated with the premature failure and/or invalidating the warranty of water related appliances, water leaks and associated damage, and/or the additional operational costs associated with inefficiencies associated with clogged or corroded piping/equipment.
Update fixtures and piping and consider the use of point-of-use filters or a whole-house water treatment system. Before installing a water treatment system, please get a comprehensive water quality test (City Water) or (Well Water).
Our Motto is ” Learn / Diagnose / Test “
Learn – learn about your source and system.
Diagnose – determine the warning signs or symptoms of a problem and get the water tested and problem diagnosed.
Test – implement an approach to mitigate the problem and test to make sure the problem is corrected.
Source: Oram, Brian; “Lead In Drinking Water – Is There Lead In My City Drinking Water ?”, Water Research Center / Know Your H20 Program, 2020.
The Keystone Clean Water Team with assistance from B.F. Environmental Consultants, Inc and the Water Research Center have developed and updated 2 phone apps. The apps work on both the Android and the Apple iphone platform. Know Your H2O? is an educational tool that can help you diagnose the problem with your water. This app will lead you through a series of questions to pinpoint the issues with your water. Unlike other apps that just remind you to drink water, these apps actually help to diagnose a water quality problem and/or provide insight into water quality contaminants may be a concern based on a variety of activities.
Know Your H2O
Know Your H2O? is an educational tool that can help you diagnose the problem with your water. This app will lead you through a series of questions to pinpoint the issues with your water. You can reach your diagnosis through describing symptoms that are effecting your home, your health, or the water itself. Once you receive your diagnosis result(s), the app is designed to educate you by displaying full lists of symptoms, causes, and solutions, as well as links to other educational sources. The app will then show you various testing kit options specifically designed to treat those results. If the problem is more extensive and in depth testing is required, Know Your H2O? will also connect you with featured local professionals. What’s in YOUR Water?
The PA Baseline Testing mobile app is an educational tool for residents of Pennsylvania who are impacted by Oil & Gas Development, Subsurface Coal Development, and other common environmental hazards. By selecting which factor impacts your region, you can discover various Recommendations and Tiers of water testing that can help bring you piece of mind about the safety of your drinking water. Got Data? You can also submit your own testing data and results to help continue to build the PA Clean Water Team’s database.
To learn more go to Download the Free Drinking Water Quality Mobile Apps
Despite measures taken by the EPA and many states, lead poisoning is still a serious concern. Lead can be found in old water taps as well as interior and exterior piping. As water sits in these pipes, the water can react with the piping and based on a combination of corrosion or physical dislodging of chemical coatings the lead and metal content of the water can increase. Drinking water high in lead can contribute to lead poisoning, but most sources of lead in the blood are related to the exposure to lead in paint, dust, soil, and consumer products that contain lead. Individuals at most risk to lead include those living in older homes that have not been remodeled, individuals in mining or smelting towns and communities, young children, pregnant women, and the elderly. If your tap water has lead levels exceeding 15 ppb (0.015 ppb), you should take action immediately to minimize your exposure and if your our on a private well or private source if the level is above 5 ppb (0.005 mg/L) you should act.
This simple test kit can easily be used in your home, classroom, office and anywhere else where you would need to test water quality. Quickly and accurately test well water, city/municipal water, tap water, residential drinking water, groundwater, and spring water sources. The results are fast and easy to read by following along with the included color chart and instruction manual.
