The Primary Regulations of the Safe Drinking Water Act include standards for those trace metal ions known to have adverse health implications. Metal ion content of potable water can result from the source water, treatment chemicals or corrosion products. A corrosion product of major concern is lead. It can appear in drinking water from corrosion of lead service lines or soldered joints of copper piping. Lead in drinking water has been reported1  in the Northeast where lead in tap water contributed to high lead levels in blood. Due to risk to infants, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)2  concluded "that the no-observed-adverse-health-effect level cannot be set with assurance at any value greater than 0.025 milligrams per liter." Other undesirable trace metals such as cadmium can appear from corrosion in piping where these metals are minor components or impurities.

Subject
Water, Orthophosphate, Iron, Lead, Acidity, Ion concentrations, Metals, Corrosion inhibitors, Copper, Zinc, Potable water, Risk reduction, Sampling
© 1979 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1979
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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