wrote:

Hi, if someone has used the 'wrong' solder to connect water pipes in a
house is there any way of avoiding replacing the piping?

Well the normal solution is to simply ignore it.

I thought the lead leeching into the water would reduce over time.
However, I don't know if this is true and, if so, how long it would
take for the lead levels to fall to a safe level.

In hard water areas, lead pipe acquires a coating that prevents it
actually making contact with the water anyway. Not so sure about solder.
However there should be vanishingly small quantities of solder exposed
to the water - most is trapped between the pipe and fitting surfaces/

How do you define "safe level"? How are you measuring it?

The house this has happend in was build about 5 years ago but the lead
levels were only noticed a year ago (and have since dropped - but not
to safe levels yet)

Same questions as above really, and also are you sure that the solder is
the only source of lead?


--
Cheers,

John.

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