The Serious Health Problems Caused by Contaminated Household Water.

Part 2:

By Larry Gillanders

The following is the second in a four-part series of articles on the dangerous situations occurring in ordinary tap water in most U.S. homes today. This series covers the most common causes of water contamination; the health hazards associated with poor quality water; the household piping problems caused by supposedly pure water; and solutions to eliminate these problems and ensure good quality water supply in homes.

Public awareness and concern has risen dramatically in the past few years about a health problem of serious proportions caused by metals contaminants in household water supplies. As water quality standards have been modified in the last two decades, the chemical makeup of the water provided by most local treatment agencies is now corrosive to copper pipes in homes, apartments and office buildings. This has allowed the leaching of both lead and copper into water supplies, which presents a serious health risk. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March of 2005 tightened its rules further to better inform the unsuspecting water drinking public of the corrosive effects of water which is causing this leaching of lead and copper into the water supply.

This metals contamination issue affects everyone, in rural as well as large metropolitan areas. As just one example, in our nation's capital, nearly 2,300 older homes have experienced lead levels more than three times the minimum EPA "Lead Action Level" -- and more than 150 of these homes tested with lead levels of 20 times the allowable limit.

An Insidious Poison

Lead is a cumulative poison, meaning it builds up in the body over many years until it reaches toxic levels. It can be absorbed through the digestive tract, the lungs and the skin, and it's carried throughout the body in the blood. Damage to the brain, nervous system, kidneys and red blood cells can result from lead poisoning, with the severity of effects varying depending on the concentration of lead in the body. At extremely high levels death may result.

Some of the effects of lead poisoning may diminish if exposure is reduced, but others are irreversible. Children are more vulnerable to lead because their bodies will absorb it more rapidly than adults. Both the mental and physical development of children can be severely depressed by overexposure to lead. On average, about 10 to 20 percent of a child's total lead exposure comes from common drinking water. Infants who are fed formula get even more of their lead from drinking water -- 40 to 60 percent. Developing fetuses may also be damaged if the mother drinks water containing high levels of lead.

Legislation Is No Solution

When Congress took action in 1988, it banned the use of lead pipes as well as solders containing greater than 0.2% lead, and it restricted the lead content of faucets, pipes and other plumbing materials to no more than 8.0%. The EPA has determined that dissolved lead levels in drinking water should be less than .015 parts per billion (15 ppb). This minimum standard is intended to help communities around the nation reduce their exposure to lead in drinking water and thereby minimize the 10 to 20 percent of a person's exposure that comes from tap water.

These numbers don't really indicate the severity of the problem, however. Think about it this way -- that "recommended limit" translates to just 15 milligrams of lead in 1,000 liters of water. That's the equivalent of 1/32nd of an ounce of lead in 15,000 gallons of water -- about as much as one drop from a medicine dropper put into the average backyard swimming pool.

In addition to problems related to lead found in today's household water, trace amounts of copper in water are now believed to adversely affect the human body. Recent studies at the Sun Health Research Institute in Arizona have shown that copper can be an important factor in the origin of Alzheimer's Disease. The addition of trace amounts of copper to water given to laboratory rabbits has induced accumulation of an element called beta amyloid (a-amyloid) plaque in the brain, including senile plaque-like structures which affected learning abilities and memory capabilities. The potential links to Alzheimer's and dementia are disturbing.

It's obvious that metal contamination of household water is becoming a critical environmental issue and homeowners need to do something about it.

Coming in Part 3 - The serious damage that can be caused by pinhole leaks in corroded copper water piping, including damage to walls, ceilings and floors as well as creation of an ideal environment for mold formation.

Larry Gillanders is CEO & Chief Technology Officer of ACE DuraFlo Systems, LLC, in Placentia, Calif., a leading developer of unique barrier coating technology used to repair and prevent water pipe problems. http://www.aceduraflo.com