Abstract
Experiments were made with Glasgow tap water and de-ionised water in contact with copper tubing with capillary (soldered) jointing, used for drinking water services, after the detection of contamination by lead in the water services in a large modern building in Glasgow.
It was found that the lead pick-up in a building is subject to variations. Newly constructed fittings can release 200–300 μg of lead per fitting over a 16 hour or overnight period. The release of lead decreases over 4–5 weeks to 10–30 μg per fitting. The lead released from joints removed from a building after five years of use showed a mean value of 22 μg per fitting.
A simple cell: solder/water + electrolyte/copper tube, shows that the solder is anodic and that the lead release from capillary joints is electrolytic in nature, with plumbers’ flux acting as the electrolyte.
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