Lead pipe, panicking a bit, please talk me down

[nomorespaghetti]

Hello, I know there's another thread running about lead pipes - it's not me!

Just found a lead pipe in our property (1910 build), it's the pipe that has the stopcock on it. Similarly to the other thread, the surveyor missed it (although I've no idea how, quite frankly, since he noted where the stopcock was, and if you can see the stopcock you can see the pipe).

We've been here 2.5 years. I have a two year old and I'm currently 20 weeks pregnant. It's a soft water area. So I'm freaking out a bit. We run the tap (shower) first thing in the morning, so at least the water has not been sitting in the pipes all night before we drink it.

We've got United Utilities coming round on Tuesday to do a water quality check, I've got the details for their lead pipe replacement service that can replace the public pipes, and I'm calling round plumbers for quotes to do the internal work.

But how worried should I be? I'm quite upset thinking about my daughter and obviously being pregnant.

Thank you!

@phoebemac water companies are required to release their compliance sampling results annually these are usually on their websites, you can put your postcode in and it will give you a list of all parameters tested and the mean, highest and lowest result found, plus a list of exceedances. However they also take many more samples for operational purposes, or ad hoc samples for example if someone complains and these won't be included in that data. There is also an annual summary of all water company data on the DWI website

@TheBitterBoy - thanks, will have a look. I do have a lead mains pipe that comes into my property, it would be such a pain to replace as it would mean rerouting, but I do worry a bit about it as we are in a "moderately soft" water area. We don't have kids at least!

Thanks all, I'll ask the person who comes to test the water on Tues if it's treated with phosphate.

@gillybeanz, what kind of under sink filter did you get?

@venys if we could replace our pipes that easily it'd be great! I don't know if it'd be possible here, but will certainly find out.

It's reassuring to know that you rarely get samples over the limit @YorkshireCurly. I really want to avoid the expense, hassle and disruption of replacing the pipes if i can. I'd rather buy bottled water to drink than knock through my recently replastered walls, and pull up my new floor, which is what a plumber on Friday was talking about doing!

Thinking pragmatically, we can't un-drink the water we've drunk, so if the levels come back as high we'll just have to deal with that. UU reckons that 1/3rd of the houses in the north west have some lead pipes in them, and i really doubt that many of the houses in our street/estate will have had them replaced. There's a lady across the street who's lived all her life in her house, and is well into her 90s now, so that's something .

Really thanks for the helpful replies. I'm glad i was faffing around on MN on Fri, otherwise i wouldn't have read the other thread about lead pipes and decided to have a closer look at mine. If there is a problem with our water it'll be good to have figured it out sooner rather than later.

Do let us know the outcome!

Good luck

I think it's worth saying that in the UK we have some of the best tap water in the world and it is much more strictly regulated than bottled water!

Hello, just to update, we got the results of the water sample that UU tested a week ago, the water contains 0.82 micrograms of lead per litre of water, so below the current standard of 10ug/l, which is a relief! It also contains some harmless manganese oxide deposits apparently.

The man who came to test the water did confirm that the water is dosed with phosphate. He said it was very rare for samples to exceed the current standard for lead, and that lead pipes only really tend to cause problems if you're having lots of building work and knocking them about, or in the first 30 years of their use.

I've had a plumber who does a lot of lead pipe replacement come round also to do a quote on replacing the pipes. I haven't had the quote back yet, but I'll be interested to see what the cost is. The man who took the water sample said he reckoned it'd be a lot! We won't do it now that we know the water is deemed safe. The plumber reckoned that we are on a single supply but the stockcock is beneath the paving in our front yard. He thinks the houses with stopcocks outside have had their pipes changed, and the others haven't.

So i can drink my water again! Will probably continue to use my Brita filter, as i have it now, according to the packaging the filter does reduce lead. Thanks again for all the replies and help on this!

That's reassuring for you then.

So pleased they were able to reassure you. The water industry really does take lead very seriously, as obviously it can have serious consequences.

I grew up with lead pipes my old family home still has a lead pipe nothing to worry about when you replace it's plastic and you will get micro plastics in your water it's not ideal but unless you're drinking from a mountain water steam that's the deal. You can get a reverse osmosis water filter fitted but make sure you remineralize your water as it strips out everything. My dad lived to 92 and mum to 84 all that time they had lead pipes please don't worry

This thread is from 2018.