Recently, we have seen numerous news reports about toxic lead levels being found in many places in the U.S. and even in Canada. In many cases, residents did not know that their drinking water contained toxic levels of lead. Lead in water is harmful, especially for children. Lead exposure can lead to physical and behavioral effects in children and can cause adults to suffer cardiovascular effects, including increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension, decreased kidney function and reproductive problems for both women and men. Which begs the question, how do you know if your water has lead in it?
How does water get lead in it?
Lead can enter drinking water when plumbing materials that contain lead corrode, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content. Lead pipes are more likely to be found in older cities and in homes built before 1986. Don’t have lead service lines? The most common problem is with brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and plumbing with lead solder. (Source: EPA)
How do I know if my water has lead in it?
There are a couple of ways that you can find out if your water contains lead:
- Test it. We have a number of lead test kits to choose from. Some will give you results in minutes!
- Type it. Go to our homepage and enter your zip code. We pull info from the EPA’s website and can give you water filter recommendations based on your water quality grade.
What do I do if my water has lead in it?
If your water has lead in it, we’ve put together a list of Home Filter Systems and filters that will reduce and/or remove lead.
Systems:
- Pentair Heavy Duty Lead Reduction Filtration System
- Professional grade lead reduction
- Minimal pressure drop
- Built-in flow restrictor
- Filtration without sacrificing water pressure
- Fibredyne cartridge technology that enables 2x flow efficiency
- Reduces impurities coming into your home
- Point-of-use solution
- Get clean, clear and delicious drinking water straight to your tap
- Pentair High Flow Lead Reduction Filtration System
- Reduces/and or removes chlorine taste and odor
- Reduces/and or removes cysts such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and Lead
- High Flow lead reduction filtration
- Environmentally friendly drop-in design
- Integrated pressure release button
- Features Fibredyne technology that reduces premature sediment plunging
- Includes housing, filter cartridge, and filter wrench
- Pentair Freshpoint Filtration System
- Undersink application
- Effortless click-in filtration
- High water flow
- Features supply valve function that includes a shut-off function for ease of serviceability
- Built-in check valve system that provides multi-point backflow protection
- Filters water for basic taste and odor, plus removes cysts and lead
- Includes drinking water faucet
Filters:
- Pentair 20″ Heavy Duty Lead Cartridge
- Replacement cartridge for the Pentair LR-BB50-20 Heavy Duty Lead Reduction Filtration System
- Enables twice the flow efficiency of comparable lead filters
- Pentair recommends replacing this filter every 4 to 5 months to ensure optimal performance and efficiency
- Pentek 10″ Lead Reduction 0.5 Micron Filter
- Can be used in many water filter systems including under-sink systems, countertop filter systems and reverse osmosis filter systems
- Combines chlorine reduction and sediment removal
- Uses advanced Fibredyne carbon block technology to up to two times the chlorine taste and odor reduction and dirt-holding capacity of standard carbon block filters
- Also reduces sediment, dirt, rust, limescale, sand, silt and other particles
Have you been using the same filter housing for over 5 years? We encourage you to consider updating your filter housing.
Let’s keep the conversation going, have you discovered high levels of lead in your home’s tap water? If so, how did you treat it? Please share this information with us in the comments.
Have a question about lead in water? Share it with us in the comments too!
EcoBlueLife.com is a replacement water and air filter company located in the United States. The views and opinions contained herein are solely those of the original author and do not represent Eco Blue Life or its affiliates. This article was originally published on FiltersFast.com
