Tap water or well water can have loads of impurities in it but one of the most dangerous ones is lead. Lead is a highly toxic and harmful component found in water and it is necessary to remove it before you bring that glass of water anywhere near your mouth. This is why getting your water tested and using the right water filtration system is so important. Here what to know about lead in drinking water and how to remove it.

How Does Lead Make Water Unsafe To Drink?

Lead – a metal with an atomic number of 82 in the periodic table, is a very toxic and harmful substance, especially if it’s in water.

Even though it is a metal, it is invisible in water and you can’t see smell, or taste it, which is all the more concerning.

Lead can find its way into water through a variety of different ways, some of which include:
Water poisoning is due to industrial waste, which is common if industries dump toxic and chemical waste in nearby water bodies.

Pipes made out of lead can also cause lead poisoning in water. Pipes are made out of lead and even though they’re being changed, there are still a lot of areas in the United States alone that still have lead pipes from which water is being supplied.

Lead can cause a variety of issues in the body, including cancers, cell abnormalities, stomach issues, heart and kidney disorders – the list goes on. So, you can say that lead-infested water can cause serious and debilitating health concerns.

So, you get it by now: Lead in drinking water is extremely dangerous and it’s not even detectable in water unless you test it, which is scary to think about. So, removing it is something that you don’t even have to think twice about.

Testing For Lead In Water

Since lead is odorless and tasteless and doesn’t look like anything in water, it is imperative to find out the concentration of lead in your water. This can be done by testing your water for lead. But, how is that done?

Well, here are a couple of ways by which you can test water for lead.

First, you can call your local water supply company and ask them to give you a water report with lead. Usually, a water report is pretty standard but it can or cannot contain information about lead, so you might need to specify what you’re looking for. It will make things easier.

There are also tons of at-home testing kits available that you can use to figure out the concentration of lead in the water. This is easy and inexpensive, but you need to take care that you’re getting a test that is reliable, and not just a gimmick, because this is lead that you’re concerned with. You don’t want to test your water with anything that can lead to unreliable results, because that is a huge problem and you won’t know what you’re drinking if you don’t test it the right way.

Lastly, you will need to check your pipes. You might be wondering: What do water pipes have to do with lead in water? Well, in the olden times, water pipes were made out of lead, or they were at least serviced with lead. So, it is a really easy way for water to get contaminated. This is why you want to check your pipes if they’re made out of lead and change them.

How To Remove Lead From Tap Water?

So now that you know how lead gets into tap water and how you can test for lead in water, now comes the main part, and that is removing said lead from water. Here are some of the things that you can do to remove lead from water. Some are processes, whereas some are full-on changes, so take your pick.

Activated Carbon Filters

Activated carbon filters are amazing when it comes to reducing lead concentration in water. These are regular filters, but since they’re made out of activated carbon, they have very small pores that can suck out almost anything from the water, which is amazing.

So, if you want to get your hands on activated carbon filters, then you need to get ones that are certified to remove lead because if you didn’t know this already, all filters don’t remove lead. So, you need to get special ones to get them to do the job for you.

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis is a really good process to remove all kinds of impurities in water – even lead. So, a reverse osmosis plant works by pushing the water through a semipermeable membrane with the help of pressure. Now, the membrane is the real game changer here.

It has small pores enough to let the water molecules through, but it won’t let even the smallest of impurities through. So, if you want to remove lead and that too effectively, then reverse osmosis is your best bet and it is going to lead to purified water like no other, so it’s worth a try.

Distillation

Distillation is one of those processes that can lead to almost 100% pure water and it will be free of all kinds of impurities. Distillation is a process similar to how water is purified in nature. First, the water is turned into steam by boiling. This can occur in a closed environment where no steam escapes and is contained.

Then, the steam is condensed back into water and this water is pure to the core. This process is very tedious and isn’t used as much in houses, but it is an effective process nonetheless, so you can bet that it will remove every single impurity – including lead.

Use Cold Water

This might sound like a really weird thing to do, but if your taps and faucets have temperature regulation, then make sure that you keep it in the colder setting. Cold water will reduce lead to a great extent. Hot water increases the production of lead if you have lead or corroded pipes from which the water is coming.

So, if that is the case then it’s a simple fix. Just set the water temperature to cold and you will be good to go. Lead will be a no-issue and you won’t have any problems.

Find An Alternate Water Source

Sometimes, the lead content is just too much and you really only can purify the water or remove lead so much. So, if you can, try to get an alternate water source. Make sure that you check the water source first because you don’t want to switch out one water source for another faulty one.

Therefore, things like bathing, brushing your teeth and drinking can be reserved for this lead-free water supply and you can do the rest of the tasks with lead-infested water because washing dishes or even doing the laundry won’t affect things that much.

Conclusion

Lead can find its way into the water through a variety of sources. The main thing is to get your water tested and rid of it using a whole house water filtration Erie system, otherwise, it can cause serious health concerns.