Wise Water Words - Volume 51, Issue 1 (Spring 2014)
Lead (Pb) compliance
By Doug Woodbeck [Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services]Most everybody knows that, aside from my current role as Chair-elect for the Section, my main job is with the State of Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services working in the Public Drinking Water program. In many ways, this gives me a unique opportunity to know what is going on in the regulatory realm that some may not be aware of. The Department tries very hard to get the word out about upcoming regulatory changes and this article attempts to do just that.
One refresher, if you will, that I'd like to pass on is that the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act (Public Law 111-380) became effective January 4, 2014. This is a Federal law that mandates all pipe, pipe fittings, and other appurtenances that are used to convey drinking water in any public water system be "Lead Free". With regard to pipe, pipe fittings, and related items, "lead-free" is defined by Federal statute as not containing more than a weighted average of 0.25% lead when used with respect to the wetted surfaces of the pipe. The lead content of solder, flux, and similar items for use in drinking water systems remains as it has been since 1988: 0.2% lead.
There are exceptions to this law. If the pipe, fittings, or solder are used in non-drinking water systems (systems where drinking water is not expected to be obtained), these components need not meet the lead-ban requirement. Examples include lawn irrigation systems, pipes feeding heating system boilers, car-wash systems, and so on.
Because this Federal law is now in effect, inspectors from the Nebraska Public Water Supply Program will be checking public water systems records during their normal course of performing sanitary surveys to ensure that the law is being followed.
Compliance can be determined by the possession of a number of different types of records. One would be a statement from the manufacturer that the products that have been purchased are indeed lead-free. Another is keeping an example of the packaging from the products which states that the product is lead-free. A third example would be a statement from the supplier stating that the products they sold you meet the lead-free requirement.
