Service
Get the Lead Out
A
s I look back, I can remember using
these same words, but with a different meaning than what I will be
writing about and I'm sure many of you
can relate. Several years ago, while coaching baseball and soccer, I would often find
myself yelling to my players to "get the
lead out" when they were not putting their
best effort in to running during practice or
playing in a game.
Today, when we are talking and reading
about getting the lead out, we most likely
are talking about the Federal Reduction of
Lead in Drinking Water Act. This act was
passed over two years ago and goes into
effect no later than January 4, 2014.
Some readers may be thinking why is
lead used in the first place, since it is a poison? Several reasons are it melts very fast,
it's a lubricant and it can fill in some of the
holes that often occur during the production of valves and various plumbing items.
Many different brass valves and components that contain lead were installed in
both residential and commercial building
prior to 1986. It has been proven that the
lead used in the manufacturing of plumb-
ing products can slowly be released in any
drinking or potable water system resulting
in serious health issues in the stomach,
brain and nervous system. I can only think
of the number of rolls of 50/50 solder that
I have used over the years while doing
installations of domestic water and heating systems.
The new act clearly states that there can
be no more than 0.2 percent of lead in solder and not more than a weighted average
of 0.25 percent of lead in wetted surface of
pipe, fittings and fixtures.
As the manufactures are forced to
re-tool their production methods, the
wholesales will experience an increase in
product costs which will in turn be passed
on to the contractor. Some contractors will
accept the change as a positive one, while
other may say that this is just another regulation that will be disappearing in a few
years. As for myself, I would say no way
and I too am in favor of any change that
will improve health.
However, one of the concerns that I
have is how would an inspector identify
these new lead free products, and I recently
Charles Bursey, Sr.
read that there was a webinar available that
offers support of the many questions that
have been or will be asked. The web site is
www.gettheleadoutplumbing.com.
Many of you may be wondering how
you know that you are getting lead free
products. The answer is simple; you don't
because there are no regulations in place
that stipulate product identification.
However I'm sure manufactures will
be using some type of identification code
and if the date of manufacturing is 2014
you know that it meets the new lead free
requirement. The wholesalers will also
be identifying the LF products with their
own method of identification. In closing
this article, I found a few more resources
on the subject that will help you to understand "GET the LEAD OUT." l F O N
www.safeplumbing.org
www.weareleaqdfree.net
water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead
www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | september 2013
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