When is it a good time to have your pipes replaced? Well, if you happen to be one of the unlucky home owners in Toronto that still has lead pipes in their plumbing system the answer is clearly – NOW! It’s pretty apparent now that lead poisoning is not a good thing, but the fact is that there are still homes that are being serviced via lead pipes.
Does My Home Still Have Lead Pipes?
The City of Toronto has made it public that if you have a home build before the middle of the 1950s there is a chance that it has lead water service pipes. If it was built from mid-1950 up to the late 1980s then there is a very good chance that your home is not being serviced by lead piping. However, there still may be lead content in the solder that joins the piping or even in some of the old plumbing fixtures. Needless to say it is strongly advised that you contact your local plumber Toronto residents trust to come and take a look at this problem.
Live In A Condo or Apartment? Don’t Worry…
Lead pipes are by nature not very strong; the pressure that is required to service apartments and condos requires the use of a stronger material than lead, so if you are an apartment or condo dweller then you are pretty much off the hook in this regard. Lead pipes are not strong enough to service apartment or condominium properties with more than three floors. The water must be sent high up into these buildings and the required pressure dictates the use of much stronger piping.
Lead Testing Toronto’s Plumbing Systems, A Definitive Answer
Still the most effective way to discover whether or not you have lead contamination in your water supply is to have a licensed Toronto plumbing contractor take a look. We can perform a test to detect the presence of lead contamination on your water service lines and give you a definitive answer whether or not you will need to replace your lead pipes.
Home Built Before mid-1950s? We Can Help!
If you do need a water service upgrade in Toronto by replacing your lead pipes we are more than experienced in this area and can perform this work from start to finish. If your home was built before the mid-1950s the City of Toronto can provide priority water service replacement of the City-owned portion. This means the water service line connecting from the water main to the property line. The upgrade of these services are coordinated as best as possible with the City to ensure that the upgrades are done at the same time or promptly after you’ve performed the upgrade of your water service line.
I Suspect I Have Lead In My Water Supply, What Can I Do?
If you think you have lead contamination the best thing you can do is contact your local, licensed plumber as soon as possible. Describe the situation and they are sure to help. Once you’ve done that, the next best thing you can do is filter all of your water before consumption. There exist filters you can stick right on the end of your tap. Look at filters that are NSF-053-certified, these should be in-place for all homes that are at risk of lead contaminants and have children under six years old and/or pregnant women. Exposure to lead in the drinking water can be extremely harmful to the development of infants and small children. Toronto Public Health, regarding lead pipes, has made it clear that they recommend the use of a water filter even after the lead pipe replacement as there is a risk of a surge of lead levels in the water. If only one part of the water service line has been replaced, for instance just the private section, a filter should still be used.
For more information on replacing your lead water service pipes in Toronto, contact us at 416-252-5557
There is another culprit in the story of lead in our water: the lead industry. For decades after the lead companies knew that lead pipes could cause lead poisoning they continued to sell and promote lead pipes. (see The Lead Industry and Lead Water Pipes: “A Modest Campaign”; Am J Public Health. 2008;98:1584–1592)