Lead May Be In The Water of Homes Built Before 1989. This week the City of Denver advised residents of potentially harmful levels of lead in their drinking water. Lead may occur naturally in the land that serves as the source of the water supply or it may be in old pipes and lead solder. The Rocky Mountains that provide the source of Denver’s water certainly is a source of lead. There’s a reason that Leadville, CO has it’s name and this is just up the mountain from Denver. The Rocky Mountains are rich in heavy metals as are other mountain ranges around the U.S.
But Denver’s water has been considered safe in past years so one has to wonder why lead levels increased this year. I’ve seen no explanation of this but my personal experience is that the amount of rain during a season can affect contaminant levels dramatically. I’ve seen iron levels increase with rain while water hardness and mineral content increase with drought. Denver says there’s no lead in the water.
Homes built before 1920
The second cause of lead in drinking water comes from old pipes. Homes built before 1920 may actually have water pipes that contain lead. Water can leach this lead from the pipes as it enters the home. For this reason the lead tests that cities conduct are done in individual homes as well as at the water treatment plant. In the case of Denver the high levels of lead came from older homes.
Lead May Be In The Water of Homes Built Before 1989
Homes built before 1989 may use steel pipe but may use lead solder. The lead solder can also be leached into the drinking water.
While the press release issued November 7 about Denver’s lead problem pertains only to that city, this issue is true across the U.S. older homes anywhere may contain lead. And drinking water containing lead can lead to serious health issues. The entire problem in Flint, MI was this. Their new water supply was a good one, but decision makers chose not to raise the pH of the new water. The water itself corroded lead out of pipes and solder joints. That poisoned the children.
To remove lead from drinking water I use my 3 stage Kitchen Defender water filter. Lead can also be removed from an entire home using my Urban Defender whole house water filter.
