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Drinking water contamination
Published in Nick F. Gray, Water Science and Technology: An Introduction, 2017
Plumbosolvency (i.e. the ability of the water to dissolve lead) is strongly affected by the pH and alkalinity of the water. Below pH 8.0, the rate of leaching increases rapidly so that at pH 6.5, which is common in many areas receiving soft acidic upland waters, lead is rapidly dissolved from pipes. Other factors affecting plumbosolvency are water temperature, contact time between the lead and water, and the surface area of lead exposed to the water. Lead can also be a short-term problem in modern buildings. Tin–lead-soldered joints are widely used to connect copper pipework. This source of lead does not normally result in a serious increase in lead uptake as it is generally only the internal pipework that is affected and not the cold-water tap in the kitchen, which is connected directly to the rising main using a plastic pipe. In 1986, the US Congress banned the use of solder containing lead in potable water supply and plumbing systems. Only lead-free materials can now be used. Solder is considered to be lead free if it contains no more than 0.2% lead, while pipes and fittings must not exceed 8.0% lead. Water coolers (drinking fountains) are commonly used in schools in the United States and were found to have lead-lined water reservoirs and lead-soldered parts. This was leading to elevated lead levels in the water. Legislation, in the form of the Lead Contamination Control Act 1988, amended the Safe Drinking Water Act to protect children from this exposure by banning the sale or manufacture of coolers that are not completely lead free.
Hazardous Materials in Existing Buildings
Published in Steve Curwell, Bob Fox, Morris Greenberg, Chris March, Hazardous Building Materials, 2002
M. Anderson, N. Ford, C. G. March
Where lead pipework is known or suspected in existing buildings, the action to be taken is dependent upon the plumbosolvency of the water. Contact with lead during distribution does not necessarily result in contamination of water. The physical and chemical characteristics of the water – for example, acidity, hardness and temperature – determine its ability to dissolve lead. Soft acid water generally shows the greatest plumbosolvency, though some hard alkaline waters have been shown to be plumbosolvent.
Quality of tap water in an urban agglomeration: 2-years’ monitoring study in Wrocław, Poland
Published in Urban Water Journal, 2022
Grzegorz Izydorczyk, Małgorzata Mironiuk, Sylwia Baśladyńska, Daria Kocek, Anna Witek-Krowiak, Katarzyna Chojnacka
In recent years, an increase in the production of bottled mineral water has been noticed in Poland, and therefore, it has become an important factor for both economic and health issues (Dinelli et al. 2012b). Most of the bottled mineral waters originate from groundwater exploitation or springs and undergo only limited purification treatment (Dinelli et al. 2012a). Coagulation, flocculation (aluminum sulfate, ferric salts or polymers), sedimentation, water softening (bulk lime addition), ion exchange substrates, pH and hardness adjustment (sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate or lime), disinfection (chlorination (hypochlorite solution, or chlorine gas), ozonation or UV treatment), fluoridation (for dental health), the addition of plumbosolvency-reducing phosphate (water aggressiveness toward metal piping, especially lead piping) (Flem et al. 2015) all those processes constituting purification of surface water involve the addition of chemicals. Water quality is made conditional on treatment efficiency and distribution networks (Dirtu et al. 2016). Corrosion of copper alloys used for potable domestic water distribution as plumbing material is an identified problem. The mechanism is localized on the surface or can occurs as pitting corrosion (Burstein, Bi, and Kawaley 2016).