Lead Water Pipe

[drcampbell]

The concern may be justified but it still needs to be bonded. ...

I'm not suggesting leaving it unbonded; I just lack confidence in the garden-variety ground clamp. I've been unable to substantiate this as I can't find any reliable data for the impedance of loose pipe clamps vs. the impedance of dirt.

... TEL (tetra-ethyl lead). Lead paint. Lead pipes. ... amazing anyone who was alive in the 70s is still around today.

It's not particularly amazing that 60% of the people alive in the 1970s are still alive today, or that 40% have died.

In Flint, MI ... the political damage had been done.

There's little or no political damage here. There's no call for the governor's head, nor the emergency managers, not even for abolishing the emergency manager program that enabled this problem. (and many others) Maybe 5% of the people outside of Flint are even aware that the problem still exists and nothing substantial has been done differently. Last I heard, treating the water to prevent lead leaching was still an unimplemented proposal.

 

[JFletcher]

It's not particularly amazing that 60% of the people alive in the 1970s are still alive today, or that 40% have died.
.

I was being a bit facetious and sarcastic with my comment. It's good to be in the 60% tho.

My mother used to tell me about playing with liquid Mercury in school. In my high school, there were still liquid Hg thermometers, with spill kits. Now, they are all alcohol or digital, and the current generation wonders how *we* ever survived.

 

[Fulthrotl]

In Flint, MI they're pretty sure. A great many of the houses had lead feeders from the main to the house. The whole hoo-haa was the result of a change in water sources resulting in a change in water chemistry. The previous water chemistry kept the lead bonded to the pipe and the new chemistry tended to solubilize the lead. The solution was to re-establish the old chemistry but by then the political damage had been done.

well, soluble lead is a pretty severe health concern.

lead has been banned for decades from porcelain and pottery glaze.
kid i grew up with, his parents had a water pitcher from mexico
they used a lot.... and then someone decided it would be a good
idea to use it for orange juice.

orange juice leaches lead out of the glaze quite well, it seems.
the whole family was undergoing chelation for lead for a couple
years, iirc.

 

[gadfly56]

I'm not suggesting leaving it unbonded; I just lack confidence in the garden-variety ground clamp. I've been unable to substantiate this as I can't find any reliable data for the impedance of loose pipe clamps vs. the impedance of dirt.



It's not particularly amazing that 60% of the people alive in the 1970s are still alive today, or that 40% have died.



There's little or no political damage here. There's no call for the governor's head, nor the emergency managers, not even for abolishing the emergency manager program that enabled this problem. (and many others) Maybe 5% of the people outside of Flint are even aware that the problem still exists and nothing substantial has been done differently. Last I heard, treating the water to prevent lead leaching was still an unimplemented proposal.

I understood that at least one city employee and one state employee were facing criminal charges. I was also under the impression that the former chemistry had been reestablished. Can you provide a little more info? Not that I'm looking to start a political food fight, but we all know that what we read in the papers and the truth on the ground can be, shall we say, non-congruent.

 

[drcampbell]

"The City of Flint switched back to the Detroit water system ... however lead levels remain well above the federal action level... in many homes."
https://www.cityofflint.com/state-of-emergency/

 

[GoldDigger]

"The City of Flint switched back to the Detroit water system ... however lead levels remain well above the federal action level... in many homes."
https://www.cityofflint.com/state-of-emergency/

The water chemistry is no longer (as?) corrosive again, but the layers of passive coating built up on the lead pipes over decades of use is now gone and will not come back immediately.

 

[Dzboyce]

I realize we're getting off track.

A low ph water will also leach or dissolve copper out of copper piping. It will tint the water blue and/or leave blueish stains on the fixtures.

i can remember playing with liquid mercury as a kid. My brother had a bottle of it. Dint know where he'd got it from. I pour it on my bed, then press down next to it, and it would run to the depression. Then to the next spot. I thought it was pretty cool stuff as an 8 year old. Hmmm, wonder if that's why I'm so antisocial?

 

[gadfly56]

I realize we're getting off track.

A low ph water will also leach or dissolve copper out of copper piping. It will tint the water blue and/or leave blueish stains on the fixtures.

i can remember playing with liquid mercury as a kid. My brother had a bottle of it. Dint know where he'd got it from. I pour it on my bed, then press down next to it, and it would run to the depression. Then to the next spot. I thought it was pretty cool stuff as an 8 year old. Hmmm, wonder if that's why I'm so antisocial?

Unless you have a persistent blue discoloration at your gum line, ongoing damage is unlikely.

 

[gadfly56]

"The City of Flint switched back to the Detroit water system ... however lead levels remain well above the federal action level... in many homes."
https://www.cityofflint.com/state-of-emergency/

The Flint city water system now meets Federal guidelines. Levels at 12 ppb, below the Federal limit of 15 ppb.