[Greenbuilding] permissible lead in "lead-free" faucets

[Chris Green]

Reuben Deumling wrote:
> This is good information, Chris, thanks.
> What I find particularly interesting--and troubling--is the 11ppb 
> leaching limit you've discovered. EPA's action level is 15ppb. No 
> wonder California will be ratcheting down the permissible lead levels 
> in the near future.
I assume brass fixtures are required if one wants to solder the plumbing 
together. With the advent of PEX tubing, whic can be clamped together,  
perhaps we will soon be able to choose stainless steel or even some kind 
of high-tech ceramic fixtures. These will likely be quite a bit more 
expensive, though.
> As for drinking from the hot water faucet, I've assumed it was the 
> dissolving anode rod we weren't meant to drink.
Possibly, although the body does require some zinc.

The plumbing contractor working with my company showed up on the jobsite 
one morning about a month or six weeks ago, and was quite excited about 
a new fixture Moen had brought out recently.
 These are frost-free outside taps, the kind you can leave 'on' all 
winter in freezing zones, but with a difference. These new ones allow 
you to connect the tap to both the cold and hot water lines, just as 
many indoor fixtures are now capable of doing.

We had a look at the ones he'd brought, and played with them for a 
while. Some of us decided we want these fixtures in our own homes, and 
he could have sold a half-dozen of these on the spot if he'd had them.
They are pricey, though, running at least $80 each compare to about 
$13-18 for the regular frost-free taps that hook up to the cold water 
lines.

You know, of course, that the root of "plumbing,"  comes from the Latin, 
plumb-something, which means "lead."

Chris Green.