Effect of pH on the concentrations of lead and trace contaminants in drinking water: A combined batch, pipe loop and sentinel home study

High lead levels in drinking water are still a concern for households serviced by lead pipes in many parts of North America and Europe. This contribution focuses on the effect of pH on lead concentrations in drinking water delivered through lead pipes. Though this has been addressed in the past, we have conducted a combined batch, pipe loop and sentinel study aiming at filling some of the gaps present in the literature. Exhumed lead pipes and water quality data from the City of London’s water distribution system were used in this study. As expected, the lead solubility of corrosion scale generally decreased as pH increased; whereas dissolution of other accumulated metals present in the corrosion scale followed a variety of trends. Moreover, dissolved arsenic and aluminum concentrations showed a strong correlation, indicating that the aluminosilicate phase present in the scale accumulates arsenic. A significant fraction of the total lead concentration in water was traced to particulate lead. Our results indicate that particulate lead is the primary contributor to total lead concentration in flowing systems, whereas particulate lead contribution to total lead concentrations for stagnated systems becomes significant only at high water pH values.

► Impact of pH changes on lead and trace metals levels in drinking water.
► A combined batch, pipe loop and sentinel study of the effect of water quality on lead levels.
► Strong correlation between dissolved arsenic and aluminum concentrations in drinking water.
► Major contribution of particulate lead to total lead in flow systems at high pH values.