Millions of UK residents face poisoning risk from lead water pipes
Replacement of potentially toxic plumbing is complicated by responsibility being shared between utilities and homeowners
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"Tests carried out by the local authority this year revealed that more than half of the 96 flats on the privately owned estate in Lambeth had lead levels in drinking water above the legally permitted 10 micrograms per litre and 60 “receive or are at risk of receiving water above the safe level for lead in drinking water”.
“It is frightening,” said Archard, an electrician, who along with other residents has been pressing the freeholder to get the lead ripped out and replaced with plastic pipes.
More than 50 years after the installation of lead pipes was made illegal in the UK, millions of homes still have antiquated plumbing made of the toxic metal.
Although no new lead pipes have been installed in the UK since 1970, they are still “prevalent” in properties built before that time across all regions, according to water regulator Ofwat, which has allowed companies to raise £186mn from customer bills to tackle the problem in the five years until 2025.
Dealing with the issue is complicated in the UK because water companies are liable for water quality at people’s taps but the maintenance of the pipework that supplies clean water is shared between the companies and property owners.
The exact number of households affected is unclear but the industry estimates that almost a quarter of the 24.8mn domestic properties across England and Wales still have some lead pipes in their supply network."
Infants are the most vulnerable and at risk of life-long reductions in IQ as well as behavioural problems from even low quantities of the toxin coursing through their bloodstreams, according to the World Health Organization."
