hot tap water

[chris_todd]

It depends how old your hot water heater is. Anything installed in the last 20 years is not going to be a problem. Older then that I'd start to worry a little.

Smirk. Always the droll Yankee aren't we?

Cheers.
Jim

Perhaps Sean is trying to make up for the absence of Mr. Sarcastic!

[John G]

Myu understanding is that the hot water heater is not the source of the lead; it is the pipes between the heater and the tap. The hot water leaches the lead from the pipes.

Here is the reference to the Times article I quoted:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/29/health/29real.html
The article references this site:
http://www.epa.gov/lead/
I going to send Seachem a note and ask what happens to the lead when it is "detoxified."

[Rick Dotson]

Sounds like a question for Greg Morin @ Seachem?

[John G]

Here is what I sent Seachem:

"Regarding Prime, you web site says 'It will also detoxify any heavy metals found in the tap water at typical concentration levels.' I am curious about lead in water. Does Prime detoxify that, and if so what happens to the lead? It would still be in the aquarium, right? Would it ever become 'available' to fish in the tank?â€

[Rick Dotson]

Maybe that is why those pH crashes killed my fish? Not because I hadn't done a water change in how long.



Thanks John for clearing that up.

Rick

[RTRJR]

Lead toxicity is slow, not acute. Sorry Rick!

Most tap water is alkaline, either by native KH or by short-acting (generally phosphate-based) buffers added by the utility to protect copper pipes from erosion and pin-hole leaks. Protecting older piping from mobilizing lead from old solder is a fringe benefit. Lead is really only a significant human issue where old systems may still have lead piping here and and there (Washigton, D.C.). I don't know how sensitive the fish are.

[SCMurphy]

Lets look at it this way, if there were metals accumulating in hot water heaters, why would they only go into solution when we are adding water to our aquariums. There might be sediments in the bottom of the heaters but anything that is going into solution is being drawn off every time you run hot water someplace in the house. In order to have enough sediments to cause a problem the heater would have to be old. Oh, look, we are right back to what I was saying before.

[ingg]

Yes and no, Sean - ever looked inside a really old and failed hot water heater? The accumulation of sludge in the bottom of them is quite disgusting when they have no been properly maintaine and occasionally drained/flushed.

[SCMurphy]

Yes and no, Sean - ever looked inside a really old and failed hot water heater? The accumulation of sludge in the bottom of them is quite disgusting when they have no been properly maintained and occasionally drained/flushed.

Yes and no?

[John G]

Lets look at it this way, if there were metals accumulating in hot water heaters, why would they only go into solution when we are adding water to our aquariums. There might be sediments in the bottom of the heaters... )

But the original article, that started this discussion, spoke of lead in the pipes, not the heater. The heater figures in only because hot water leaches the lead. Let me quote it again:

"The Environmental Protection Agency says that older homes are more likely to have lead pipes and fixtures, but that even newer plumbing advertised as 'lead-free' can still contain as much as 8 percent lead. A study published in The Journal of Environmental Health in 2002 found that tap water represented 14 to 20 percent of total lead exposure...Scientists emphasize that the risk is small. But to minimize it, the E.P.A. says cold tap water should always be used for preparing baby formula, cooking and drinking."--and, I wondered, for adding to aquariums? And I still wonder.