How Does Lead Get Into Drinking Water?

Companion video: Reducing Lead Into Drinking Water?

Transcript

(2:01 min)

When we drink water from a fountain or turn on a faucet, we rarely consider where it comes from. Do you know how drinking water gets into your school or child-care facility? Do you know how lead can get into your facility’s water supply? To find out, let’s follow the path your water takes from the treatment plant to your facility’s tap. When water is at the treatment plant and in the distribution system, your local water utility is responsible for ensuring that it meets the federal and state standards for lead and many other contaminents.

However, the critical issue is that even though your public water supplier may deliver water that meets all federal and state standards for lead, you may end up with too much lead in your drinking water because of the possible sources of lead in your facility’s plumbing.

The water will typically pass through a thin, curved pipe called a gooseneck, or pigtail, before it reaches your facility’s service connection. In some communities, the service connection is made from lead pipes, which may contribute to elevated lead levels. When water comes into contact with these plumbing materials, corrosion may take place. Corrosion is a physical and chemical interaction that occurs between the water and plumbing. The extent to which corrosion occurs contributes to the amount of lead that can be released into the drinking water.

The amount of corrosion depends on a number of complex factors, including the age and condition of the plumbing, the temperature and velocity of water, the pH of the water, and the amount of time the water comes into contact with the plumbing materials.

There is no way to know whether or not the route drinking water travels through your school or child-care facility will result in lead in your drinking water. To protect children in your school or child-care facility, be proactive and have your water tested.