Do You Get Your Water From Lead Pipes?

Most Maryland residents are extremely fortunate to have a reliable source of water, straight from a tap. Rather than having to rely on fetching buckets from a well, or a river, clean, safe-to-drink water is available in your own home or business with the turn of a tap. Unfortunately, in some cases, even with water that has been safely treated at a plant, something can happen during the “delivery” of the water into your glass or pitcher. It has nothing to do with how the water is treated and everything to do with what happens to that water during the last few feet in a building and out of a tap. It’s all about whether the water pipes in a building use lead or not, which may need Crofton plumbing services to address.

Lead In Pipes

Lead was used as a material for water pipes up until the 1950s. Even after that, lead was used up until the 1980s to solder pipes together. There are a lot of practical reasons for this. Lead is cheap, flexible, easy to work with, and durable once it’s been set. This made lead an ideal material for construction use since, from a structural viewpoint, it had so many advantages and no real points against it.

Unfortunately, for all the conveniences that lead brought from that construction point of view, it was eventually found to have a single, glaring flaw. Lead is toxic, and, given enough time, or exposure to a sufficiently large amount, it can have a major health impact.

The Risks

Lead poisoning occurs when there is too high an amount of lead in the human body. Some of the symptoms of lead poisoning include:

• Increased blood pressure
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Memory loss
• Digestive issues
• Anemia

In children who are more vulnerable to lead due to their smaller size, there is a greater range of potential health issues, including:

• Hearing disorders
• Cognitive/Learning issues
• Retarded physical and/or mental development
• Brain and/or neural damage

While healthy adults in their prime are still at risk due to exposure, that risk is not as great as more vulnerable demographics. Children and the elderly, in particular, run a higher risk of susceptibility to the toxic effects of lead. Children are more susceptible due to their smaller size, so less lead is required to have an effect, while the elderly may suffer from various immune deficiencies due to the aging process.

If you have lead water pipes in your home, call Crofton plumbing services to get them replaced.