Question on high copper and lead levels.

[Mike S]

I have recieved back my lab test of my spring water and it shows low pH, 5.8 and the water is somewhat corrosive, -2.8. The lab suggested a copper and lead test which shows after setting all night and the first draw; copper of 1900 ppb (ug/L) and lead at 14 ppb.

I guess the high copper is from the corrosive water and the copper pipes.

The lab said they usually don't see lead in the ground water in this area, so they suggested the prime suspect would be the solder joints. The house was build in California in 1989. Shouldn't it have had the tin solder instead of lead?

How can I tell if the solder is lead or not?

What other places should I be looking for the lead?

Thanks again for any help.

 

[Gary Slusser]

Some 50/50 lead solder was used long after it shouldn't have been. Many plumbers and DIYers etc. continued to use it because it was supposedly easier to use but... it matters little where the lead is coming from since the copper is way more than what will cause serious health problems alone. But, you can scrape some of the solder and take it for testing.

The cure is to replace the water source with a well, or replace the copper line from the spring to where you can install acid neutralizing water treatment equipment. I suggest 160 or 200 psi rated PE tubing with sch 80 or stainless steel fittings.

I suggest a backwashed sacrificial mineral acid neutralizing (AN) filter with a Clack WS-1 control valve. And since you have a spring, I strongly suggest some form of disinfection equipment. I would propose a UV light.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

 

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[Mike S]

Thank you for your reply. Let me give you some more backgrown information. I have tried six wells on my 5 acres with no luck. So I am pretty much stuck with the spring. Because they are springs with surface contamination I have to chlorinate. I really would like to try the UV and will look into it somemore. Back when I was having the house built it didn't seem to be a ready technology yet. Can you give me any links to start my education?


For the copper levels I am thinking of replacing the copper pipe with PEX and probably looking into treatment. I need to educate myself on the treatment options. I am thinking of replacing the copper pipe anyway with PEX to solve the pin hole problems I am having. I am not sure of that problem's cause either. The pipe from the spring to the tanks and to the house is already PVC.


I didn't think of using a lab to test the solder but I could do that too. I have saved some pieces of soldered pipe that I have cut out to replace, can anything seen with the by eye that may give me a clue of possible lead solder?

Does the brass faucet body have lead in it?

Thanks again.

 

[Bob NH]

If you use about 150 gallons per day of water, you are putting around 1 pound of copper per year into your water at 1900 ppb. That is coming out of your pipes. You shoud neutralize your water to a pH of about 6.5 to 7.0. You can use a calcite filter, or, since you are chlorinating your water anyway, you could add sodium hydroxide (yes, lye, but not much) to your water with the chlorine.

You should have a pH meter to manage it, but it is cleaner than adding calcite, it doesn't add hardness to your water, and you use your chlorine pump to add both so the equipment is less expensive. A pen type pH meter costs less than $100.

Since you are using a spring, you should be concerned about Giardia and Cryptosporidium. They are not readily killed by chlorine. To find out about crypto you should Google: cryptosporidium milwaukee and cryptosporidium seneca lake

UV will kill them but you need to filter the water before the UV and if you are going to do that you might as well use a crypto quality filter that will eliminate crypto, giardia, and all of the other things from your spring. http://www.harmsco.com/uploads/pdf/harmsco_polypleat_catalog.pdf

The filters comply with the EPA Surface Water Treatment Rule for treating water from lakes and ponds that is used in public water supplies. The standard system consists of filtration and chlorination. Another problem with UV is that there is no residual disinfection. Public supplies always add disinfectant, usually chlorine, to provide some protection against failure or subsequent contamination.

I use the PP-BB-20-1 in a generic brand Big Blue style housing. The housings cost about $50 and the cartridges about $55, but one cartridge will probably last a year.

 

[Mike S]

Bob NH,

Thanks for the information; I have a couple of questions more. Can I use the Harmsco filter and eliminate the chlorine? The site didn't say. I would like to get rid of the chlorine.

Is that PP BB 20 1 filter a whole house filter or only a point of use filter. $55 a year is reasonable.

Lye added to my water? Sounds like a simple solution any links to long term effects.

 

[hj]

lead

If lead bearing solder was used in the joints;
1. By now the patina would have covered them so that the solder would no longer be in contact with the water, and
2. The way many construction plumbers solder joints, they might not have had enough solder in the joint to reach the point where the water would contact it.
3. Take a sample where the water enters the building to see what its quality is.

 

[Bob NH]

Mike,
The Harmsco filter is a whole house filter and then some. They easily handle 15 gallons per minute, limited only by the internal ports in the filter head. The cartridges would last at least a year unless you have really dirty water.

Lye is sodium hydroxide, NaOH. The chemistry is that the the hydroxide ion combines with the H ion from the acid and the Na combines with whatever other ion was with the acid. A simple example is if you had hydrochloric acid HCl neutralized with NaOH you would get NaCl (salt) and H OH = H2O, (water). If you had sulfates you would get some form of sodium sulfate.

Sodium hydroxide is commonly used in water treatment systems to raise the pH. Here is a link from Virginia Tech that includes a description of neutralizing processes for household use. Click on the link for Neutralizers at the top of the page. http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/housing/356-481/356-481.html

If you use a neutralizer other than the calcite system you should have a means of testing it. I use a Hanna Instruments PHEP-5 because it meets reporting requirements for EPA. The problem with those instruments is that they cost about $80 and the electrode must be replaced from time to time. You could use a color comparator pH test kit which you might be able to buy locally. The Hach 17F would work but is about $58. You want to find something that will resolve 0.2 pH units so you can know when you are getting a result from adjusting the neutralizer.

I would continue to use a little chlorine but you would need a lot less with the filter. Filters don't take out viruses and are not completely effective on bacteria. In surface water tretment systems that use long-life cartridges I put some chlorine in before the filters to keep stuff from growing in the filters. I would put in enough to get 0.5 mg/liter in the finished water. You should have a good test kit. The "pool test kits" usually don't have enough resolution. I use the Hach CN-66F which gives you a range of 0.2 to 3.5 mg/l of free chlorine. I assume that your chlorinator is connected to operate when your pump is operating.

I think I am set up to accept EMails on this board if you want details on getting the filters, or you can use the private message function.