New limit values ​​for lead in drinking water

From the first of December 2013 new limits for lead in drinking water

18/11/2013

The Federal Ministry of Health announced on Monday that from 1 December new guideline values ​​for lead in drinking water will apply. Per liter of drinking water no more than 10 micrograms of lead must be present. In general, this value is exceeded if the old lines are still present. The water suppliers and also the landlords have been advised to inform consumers in writing, even if no exceeding of the limit is measurable, said Federal Environment Minister Jochen Flasbarth.

If this value is exceeded, the health authority can make a replacement of the lines mandatory to eliminate the limit exceeded. In most cases, a complete replacement of the pipes is necessary.

Especially for pregnant women, infants and toddlers, the nerve and blood poison is particularly harmful. As a result of the new drinking water regulation, which came into force in 2003, a gradual reduction from 25 to 10 micrograms per liter over a period of ten years has been established. Since 1970, no lead pipes have been laid in homes in northern and eastern Germany to combat the creeping poisoning. In southern Germany, the last lead pipe in households was officially used even more than 100 years ago. (Fr)

Picture: Lupo