"none" ""doug\"@(none)" wrote in message
...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
jakdedert wrote:
Well there is lead solder in my house and I drink the water. No lead
poisoning yet..

How can you tell? FWIW, I think the ban on lead in plumbing makes a lot
of sense. Still, I'd think that there is very little--if any--lead in
actual contact with the water in a properly sweated joint.

Nor does the lead dissolve in water - lead pipes were in use for hundreds
of years. Of course it may depend on the type of water. Hard water coats
the insides of the pipes.

Look up lead solubility in water and you will find some interesting
papers. The type of chlorination has a big effect on the solubility
of lead. There are other factors about what is in the pipes and
water. Your best hope is that the scale stays Pb++ and that the lead
get covered.

Lead from the pipes showed up as a problem for the Romans.

It is a good thing that lead was removed from pipes being that I have
experienced lead soldered joints (Poss not sweated properly too) dissolving
and leaking and usually in easy inaccessible places, I have also experienced
lead soldered copper pipes in refrigerators where the solder has totally
"Dissolved" to just a paste (It were used in older refrigerators to act as a
heat exchanger for the gas to and from the evaporator to improve efficiency)
so I am sure it can and often does leak into the water system. That as well
as the availability of cheaper higher temp brazing equipment and cheaper
silver solder (Often without flux required) available providing better and
more permanent joints is a better and safer alternative.
Justy