To ask how I find out if water pipes are lead?

[Curious8910]

Strange thread — but does anyone know how to find out if drinking water pipes leading to your house are lead? It’s my friends house built mid to late 1800s . There have been lots of cancers occurring in the same street and wondered if there’s a link Not interested at all in compensation, just trying to find out if there’s an environmental cause Thought it was maybe radiation but spoke to a couple of physics friends who have almost ruled that out for area Thanks!

Here you go

www.watersafe.org.uk/advice/wq_faqs/lead_in_water/how_do_i_know_if_there_are_lead_pipes_in_my_home/

If the pipes are lead the local water company will do a free lead test. Our pipes are lead but lead is in a safe level.

No matter how old your house is, the public water supply will not be in lead pipes by now.
If the plumbing inside your house is truly ancient, there may be lead pipes in your house.
As for the fear about cancers in your street, follow this link.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy
Happy Christmas!

Thanks so much - that’s a great link

If your in a hard water area I wouldn't even consider it. The water board said that our lead pipes would be so calcified it was just a non issue. They were tested and came back at perfectly safe levels.

Both great links - thanks. Herja- my friend’s house is in a soft water area

Onlyaman - just looked at that link but I can’t rule out a pattern We’re talking about extremely fit and healthy folks who have very few other risk factors

You can tell by looking. Lead pipe is fatter/chubbier than the standard copper pipe. I know we have a lead pipe between the stopcock on the street and the stopcock where it enters the house. This is the stretch of pipe most likely to be lead if it's not been replaced. Doesn't bother me as I know the risk is trivial.

Epidemiology is complicated, and random chance doesn't work the way most people think.

My MIL went blind and nearly died from drinking water from a lead pipe. This was 40 years ago and it was an old cottage which hadn't been lived in for a while, so the water had been sitting in the pipes

It's unlikely to happen now, but I'd still want to check it out

Cancer is more common than people realise. In particular consider the ages of the people living on her street. If a large number of them are older they’re getting sick because of their age not because of any environmental issue. Local employers are also worth considering. For instance if there was an asbestos doctors nearby and many of the people living on the street worked there back in the day they would at the point where they would start developing mesolithoma now.

Hi Racecardriver- average age would be 50s which I don’t think is v. old . I just think there must be some environmental factors

One thing the water board said to me was run your taps for a min in the morning before using it for the kettle, etc. So you don't drink water which has been sat in the lead section all night.

Thanks Nico , that’s a good tip

If a heart attack, a stroke or an accident doesn’t get you, then you’ll probably die of cancer.

Even with no lead pipes.

Does lead even cause cancer?

it's more likely to cause brain issues as well as kidney problems, high blood pressure and iron deficiency I believe. It's toxic to the brain which is why what the Romans achieved was incredible because they were basically poisoning themselves whenever they ate or drank anything.

brizzledrizzle - that’s exacly it- the cancers do match the lead connection That’s why I’m interested Found out that you can have lead levels tested re the water supply so may advise her to do that ...

All water supplies are tested regularly and have to be of a high standard. You can find a company on the internet that would take your sample and provide you with an exact chemical analysis, you would have to pay. They would tell you if a level of say lead was higher than expected. You can have the same analysis done if you have your own water well or source of water.

There's no need to pay - the water company will test the water for free if their customers are concerned about lead pipes. A lot of companies also routinely treat the water with phosphoric acid which reacts with lead pipes to make an insoluble coating in the inside of the pipe, stops the lead leaching into the water.

Thanks TheBitterBoy ..

50 is the average age of people having cancer or the street? If it’s the average age of people with cancer I would say that was about right. On the street I grew up on (ten households) four people had cancer. Two were women with breast cancer (both had it in their thirties/fourties the first time. One died, the second had it again in her fifties). The other people who were men from the same family. One was in his seventies (father) the other was in his fourties. Cancer is very very common. More so amongst working class/lower middle class people who tend to have unhealthier lifestyles.

Drink a few gallons of your tap water. If you start going bonkers then they're lead.

Yorkshire Water doesn’t test your tap water for lead, let alone for free.

@SpikyHedgehogg, if they've told you that they are going against their own policies and that of the regulator contact.yorkshirewater.com/water-supply/what-is-your-lead-replacement-policy/

About 30% of people develop cancer, mostly due to diet, smoking, UV exposure, past industrial hazards, radon, alcohol consumption, etc and it generally takes decades after an exposure to show.

In a street of 50+ YOs, it would be unusual if there weren't a few people with cancer, sadly.