We checked with the WaterSafe and learned the following:

According to the manufacturer, "Our Watersafe® Lead Test Kit can detect dissolved lead at levels below the EPA Action Level of 15 parts per billion (ppb)."

To test for what some call total lead, which would include particulate lead and free dissolved lead you would need to send a water sample to a laboratory where they would more than likely perform some sort of acid digestion to break down the all forms of the metal into a detectable state.

Testing for metals in general?

For most folks the first step in determining what, if any advanced metals testing needs to or should take place involves taking a look at a water sample to see if it contains metals at all.  For that task the SenSafe Heavy Metals Check product works well since it detects a wide range of metals and gives a total metal concentration as its result.

SenSafe Heavy Metals Check will not tell you what metal(s) it detects or give individual metal concentrations, but rather it adds any observed concentrations together into a single value.  If that value seems 'high', then you may want to consider testing for metals of particular interest due to their potentially hazardous nature if consumed in drinking water.  Those metals may include (but are in no way limited to) lead, mercury, chromium and/or arsenic.

Other metals such as copper, zinc, iron, manganese may pose health hazards in really high concentrations, but typically water supplies will not contain levels that high without man-made influence(s).  Metals like these can, however, cause aesthetic problems at lower concentrations and some may cause damage to plumbing in the form metallic deposits that restrict water flow.

The USEPA set as a Primary Drinking Water Standard the level of 15 ppb dissolved lead in drinking water. Reaching or exceeding this level, for a water treatment plant, means the plant must immediately act to reduce the level. Failing to do so could result in substantial fines from the USEPA.

Why test for lead?

Scientific studies have shown that prolonged consumption of lead in water may result in learning disabilities, muscular disorders, damage to the kidneys, and a host of other unwanted health problems.

I have city water… so why should I test for lead?

Lead can show up in city/municipal/public water supplies. Why? Older water systems may still have metal tubing in use that, in older days, workers used solder (which contained an amount of lead) to join together.

Over time water makes its way through the joints to the solder and then lead slowly enters the water supply. To make matters worse, older homes that contain copper plumbing usually have joints fused together with solder that contains lead — and no State, Local or Federal law can make homeowners or landlords replace older plumbing with newer, lead-free components.

Testing for other metals in water

If concerned about metals other than lead in your water, we also carry test products for mercury, chromium, zinc, total copper, total iron, manganese and a cumulative test for heavy metals.

For additional information on lead in drinking water

To learn more about the effects of consuming lead, how lead could potentially gets into your water, and information on removing lead from drinking water, please take a look at the lead archives section on the Water Testing Blog.

Why do you see a blog posting dealing with testing for lead in paint on a web site dedicated to water quality and water quality? Simple: The folks responsible for this site care about the health and safety of families and want them to live lead-free lives whenever possible.

Why should a family or person have to wonder whether or not the paint covering their furniture, window sills, radiators, walls, baseboards, etc. contains harmful lead when a simple, easy-to-use test kit for lead in paint like the LEADQuick Paint Home Test Kit contains 25 tests and each test takes only minutes to perform.

Using visual detection method which makes use of a new & improved red-green color development technology, LEADQuick Paint Home Test Kit detects the presence of lead on surfaces including wood, plaster, drywall, and metal.

The LEADQuick Paint Home Test Kit includes:

• 10 – Testing Tubes: Small polystyrene test tubes
• 1 – eXact® Reagent Acid-1 in a dropper bottle
• 1 – eXact® Reagent PB-2 in a dropper bottle
• 1 – eXact® Strip PB-3P bottle of 50 strips
• 1 – eXact® Strip PB-4 bottle of 25 strips
• 1 – Foam Test Tube Holder
• 1 – Instruction Manual
• 1 – Lead Paint Drywall ‘Standard’

While newer homes must pass certification tests prior to sale and may not contain lead-based paints, the law does not always require older homes that have passed down from family member to family member an/or as rental properties that have not changed owners in many years to comply with newer lead regulations.

Testing for Lead in Water

Given all the publicity that lead in water contamination has received in recent years, it should come as no surprise that people have interest in testing their drinking water for lead.

Remember: At one point copper piping joined by solder containing lead went into pretty much every home and office.

Got interest in testing for other metals in your drinking water? No problem. The following test kits will make that task a breeze!

Do you have a lead test kit or can recommend a company that I can valid results in less than a week? We have used a service before, but it took nearly two weeks.

We do know of home drinking water test kits that you can use to detect the presence of dissolved lead, yes, but we feel obligated to inform you that even the most accurate home drinking water test kit should never take the place of professional water analysis by a certified water testing laboratory.

With that said, you have a few options when it comes to testing for lead in drinking water. Both WaterSafe and WaterWorks manufacture lead in water test kits and both, from what we can tell, contain the same type of test… just one has a bit less flashy packaging.

We threw the third product, SenSafe Water Metals Check in there for people who want to know if they have ANY heavy meatals present in their drinking water. SenSafe Water Metals Check has adetection range of 10ppb up to 400ppb.

Ivars Jaunakais, chief analytical chemist, founder and President of Industrial Test Systems, Inc. uncovered interesting data which suggested that lead comes from other sources and was able to prove his hypothesis by testing for the presence of lead in faucet aerators. He found that particulates which had accumulated in the nozzles and faucet aerators sometimes contained and, in turn, produced substantial amounts of lead far in excessive of the EPA’s 15ppb ruling for drinking water.

Older testing methods involved testing procedures best carried out in a laboratory setting. Through the use of groundbreaking LEADQuick^TM ReagentStrip & Reagent technology and the Hach’s already established LeadTrak^TM Pocket Colorimeter^TM II, Ivars greatly reduced the cost per test and total test times while making the test safer, simpler and easier to perform.

No longer do water samples have to get hauled back to a laboratory for analysis in order to get laboratory grade test results. Field samplers and field technicians can now safely and easily test for lead concentrations in water at a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time.

LEADQuick^TM Lead Test for the LeadTrak^TM Pocket Colorimeter^TM II

(More Information on Ivars’ New Lead Test Coming Soon!)

Does this mean your water supply is ‘safe’ from lead contamination?

Example 1: In Albany, NY a few years ago water samples taken from the drinking fountains of a public grade school contained excessive quantities of lead.

Example 2: Older homes sometimes contain ‘original’ plumbing and at one point the solder used to connect pipes contained lead.

Example 3: Some water systems have retro-fitted their water treatment plants with all new lead-free plumbing/piping but the lines running to your home from the street may still contain metal fitting capable of leaching lead into your water supply given the proper pH and alkalinity of the water passing through them.

Example 4: You have a private water supply (a well). Lead occurs naturally in the environment as well as coming from man-made sources plus, see ‘example 2’ above.

How can you test for lead in water?

Previously testing for lead in water required a complicated procedure but recent advancements in chemistry have made fast, accurate, and easy-to-use home tests such as Lead in Water Test possible.

This reliable lead in water test kit allows even non-technical people to obtain reliable test results in approximately 10 minutes!