How do I know if a property has lead pipes?

[ninkyno]

Hello all, I've fallen in love with a period (Edwardian) property but have been alerted to the fact that it may have lead pipes. How and where do I check the pipes are located and how do I find what they're made of?

These are some pipes on the outside of the property: what are they?

Apologies for the silly questions- I'm really not savvy when it comes to these things :/

You don't need to buy a fancy pants testing kit. Lead is a soft metal. If you scratch a lead pipe with a harder metal it will leave a mark on the lead.
When I worked in the water industry the advice was to flush approximately a litre of water for each meter that separated the kitchen cold tap from the external stop tap first thing in the morning when the supply hasn't been in use overnight (eg 15 litres drawn at the kitchen tap if it's 15 metres from the external stop tap). Use it for watering plants/flushing the loo if you're on a meter so it doesn't go to waste.
However if you are on a hard water area the limescale forms a natural barrier inside the pipe between water and lead.
We replaced our supply pipe from the boundary and into the house ourselves. We hired a mini digger, got the blue plastic pipe from somewhere like Wickes, got the water company to do a trench inspection and connect to the external stop tap- which we got them to re-site in the pavement from the lawn- while a plumber friend made the connection indoors.

@MrsMoastyToasty

You don't need to buy a fancy pants testing kit. Lead is a soft metal. If you scratch a lead pipe with a harder metal it will leave a mark on the lead. When I worked in the water industry the advice was to flush approximately a litre of water for each meter that separated the kitchen cold tap from the external stop tap first thing in the morning when the supply hasn't been in use overnight (eg 15 litres drawn at the kitchen tap if it's 15 metres from the external stop tap). Use it for watering plants/flushing the loo if you're on a meter so it doesn't go to waste. However if you are on a hard water area the limescale forms a natural barrier inside the pipe between water and lead. We replaced our supply pipe from the boundary and into the house ourselves. We hired a mini digger, got the blue plastic pipe from somewhere like Wickes, got the water company to do a trench inspection and connect to the external stop tap- which we got them to re-site in the pavement from the lawn- while a plumber friend made the connection indoors.

The testing kit is to see if there's lead in the water, not to test if the pipes are lead.

We knew we had lead pipes. We wanted to test the water to see if the limescale had indeed protected the water from the lead or not.

If the property has had plumbing work done since 1966 then the replaced pipes won't be lead. That's the year it became against water regulations to use it as a plumbing material.

@whyohwhyohwhyohwhywhy

If your anxiety is high are you sure this is the property for you? It sounds like you will be fretting about every little thing

I'm not anxious about the work the property needs doing as much as the potential for lead pipes! As parents, you'd do anything to protect your children.

@MrsMoastyToasty

If the property has had plumbing work done since 1966 then the replaced pipes won't be lead. That's the year it became against water regulations to use it as a plumbing material.

EA said property hasn't had anything done to it for the past 40 years.

We have lead pipes. I just give the children bottled water to drink. Sometimes I forget, they are still alive and healthy 5 years later!

We had lead pipes and we’ve come to no harm, we finally got round to replacing them last year when we had our extension built, it took a day to do, the builders dug the trench by hand because we couldn’t get a digger into the space.
The only thing I’ve noticed is the increase in water pressure.

We live in an Edwardian house which had lead pipes. We had them replaced as part of extensive building work but we were told by the builders that they are so filled with limescale at that age that the water doesn't touch the lead at all and they're perfectly safe. I also grew up in a house with lead pipes and we're all still alive and healthy for now.

@HamCob

We have lead pipes. I just give the children bottled water to drink. Sometimes I forget, they are still alive and healthy 5 years later!

Lead poisoning builds up over time.

I mean, if you live in a hard water area, it's likely your pipes are coated in limescale and the water is not contaminated with lead. And if not, I guess it's unlikely your DC will have had much exposure if they've only had a few glasses.

But you can't tell if it's damaged your DCs by looking at them - and it's irresponsible to suggest that you can IMO.

Have you ever tested your water? That's the only way to know if there's lead in it.

From this website:

What is lead poisoning?

Lead is a highly toxic metal and a very strong poison. Lead poisoning is a serious and sometimes fatal condition. It occurs when lead builds up in the body.

Lead poisoning usually occurs over a period of months or years. It can cause severe mental and physical impairment. Young children are most vulnerable.

Lead poisoning can be treated, but any damage caused cannot be reversed.

Symptoms of lead poisoning are varied. They may affect many parts of the body. Most of the time, lead poisoning builds up slowly. It follows repeated exposures to small quantities of lead.

Lead toxicity is rare after a single exposure or ingestion of lead.

Signs of repeated lead exposure include:

abdominal pain
abdominal cramps
aggressive behavior
constipation
sleep problems
headaches
irritability
loss of developmental skills in children
loss of appetite
fatigue
high blood pressure
numbness or tingling in the extremities
memory loss
anemia
kidney dysfunction

Since a child’s brain is still developing, lead can lead to intellectual disability. Symptoms may include:

behavior problems
low IQ
poor grades at school
problems with hearing
short- and long-term learning difficulties
growth delays

@thnkingaboutoptions- thank you. It's exactly this. The cognitive implications of lead poisoning that I'm worried about.

EA said property hasn't had anything done to it for the past 40 years.

40 years ago was 1982! The 80s had much better building regulations.

My house was built in the 30s and I have lead pipes. Most have been changed to copper but to change it all would mean digging up concrete. The first toilet flush gets rid of everything that's sat overnight. And I run the kitchen tap for 20/30 seconds before using the water. Its really not a big problem at all.

We’ve got lead pipes. I’d be as concerned about leaks as anything else.

And what about the paint job on woodwork and any plans to change it – thick layers of old gloss can have lead paint in them which makes stripping an issue.

The thinner water pipes are copper. The larger pipes are waste, the black ones look like cast iron the white one is probably plastic.

All the hidden pipes in mine are lead (all visible ones changed by the almighty bodger who sold me the house. Some of his work was terrifying, but all very hidden!). My local water company tested the water; all completely fine (very hard water area, so the limescale is so thick, there is no actual lead anywhere near the water), so I have left the pipes alone.

I'd only be concerned in a soft water area OP. Short of ripping everything open and following all piping, you just won't know if you have wierd hidden sections like mine. I only discovered it when I had the floor up to fix joists damaged by a deliberately conealed leak...

As pp have said, the water company will test the water for you. Ours was done as we have lead pipes. All levels were safe due to build up inside the pipes. The water co said they add something on purpose to do that. There is only an issue if one gets broken.

@ninkyno it was about £1000. Similar to a PP we paid a contractor to mole under our drive and replace the pipes with plastic (we didn't get a grant though). The water board then replaced the communications pipe from our boundary to the mains in the street for free.
Our lead pipes were only outside. Our property has copper pipes inside which we will replace with plastic when we do work on the house.