WATER SYSTEM SAFETY


Replacements for lead may pose different risks


Paul J Molino of Enware Australia and the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute at the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials, University of Wollongong, Jason Hinds of Enware Australia, and Claire Hayward and Harriet Whiley of the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University in Adelaide, discuss some of the risks to hospital plumbing systems from both lead contamination and the build-up and spread of opportunistic waterborne pathogens.


The last few years have been a time of wide-ranging discussion and significant change in the plumbing industry in Australia. This discussion has largely centered on the issue of lead contamination of potable water via the leaching of lead from brass plumbing components, and how best to address the issue. Lead is an environmental


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Engaging discussion with stakeholders In 2020, the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) released a consultation regulation impact statement (CRIS) on ‘Lead in plumbing products in contact with water’,6


contaminant of concern, due primarily to its known impacts on the cognitive and neurological development of infants and young children. It has become a highly topical issue in Australia, in part due to the widely publicised reports of elevated lead levels detected in potable water in the Perth Children’s Hospital, Western Australia,1


NTM cases per 100,000 population BLL cases ≥ 5 µg/dL per 100,000 population


in Geelong, Victoria.2 In both instances lead and in public drinking fountains


leaching from brass plumbing components was determined to be the likely cause. The public awareness around this issue has been heightened by the relatively recent large-scale potable water lead contamination events in the US in Washington, DC in 20003,4 Michigan in 2014,5


and Flint, which saw high levels


of lead contamination of household water supplies due to changes in water treatment, chemistry, and/or supply source, leading to accelerated corrosion of lead piping. Australia has historically been a leader in initiatives to maintain a safe and secure potable water supply, with lead piping being replaced with copper from the 1930s onwards, meaning we are far less susceptible to a similar event here.


aimed at engaging discussion


with stakeholders on the issue of lead contamination from brass plumbing products in Australia, and options through which associated risks can be mitigated. This consultation resulted in the adoption of a prescribed maximum lead level (0.25%) for plumbing products in contact with potable water (current materials have been reported to contain up to 6% total lead content7


). It is estimated that up to


90% of copper alloy plumbing products contain lead, and therefore the scale and impact of these regulation changes for the


Figure 1a: Rate of NTM infections and blood lead levels (BLL) ≥ 5µg/dL in Queensland for the years 2014 and 2015, and Figure 1b: Yearly notifications to Queensland Health of non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) infections for the years 2014 – 2018. The number of notifications per 100,000 population are also listed. (Reproduced from Molino et al.22


)


Number of notifications per year


Notification per 100,000 persons each year


Notification events per 100,000 persons year


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