Gutting a business for pipes...how much to charge?

Scrappah I said on this forum a long time ago, we won't always agree, we should still have a dialog, still respecting one another's views. My main point is there is lead in all plumbing fixtures, pipe and fittings even today, including plumbers solder and flux. The term "lead free" is just a little bit misleading, it is a greatly reduced lead content, with the industry goal of zero lead in the public water supply. Even the best water supply line for drinking water (copper pipe) has a small amount of lead, less than .5%. Remember lead is accumulated in our bodies, all of those small amounts of lead, can add up eventually to very harmful amounts.

There is still to many contaminated lead paint projects to last my lifetime. We as a society have overall decided lead poisoning is "bad stuff", started the process in the 70's of removing it in just about everything, from the gasoline in our cars to the paint on our walls. Why in the hell did we make our drinking water almost the last priority in this process of getting the "lead out". We knew lead was dangerous in the 1880's and we waited 100 years almost before we decided, it would be a good idea to test the drinking water for quality and toxic substances. The "water company" it was decided should do the testing. Water naturally has no lead in it, most of the time we are smart enough not to contaminate the water we drink. The "water Company" takes water with no lead in it to start with. Transfers it to the consumer in lead pipe, leaching lead into the drinking water and have been for years. New York Cities water company was one of the last to stop using 100% lead pipe. Continued to use 100% lead pipe from the water main to the water meter until 1961. Everything you said about the "water company" using additives to control the corrosion of pipe containing lead in it is true. That took legislation requiring them to do so, more than ten years after they knew, the water supply pipes were adding dangerous levels of lead. Why add chemicals to drinking water to minimize corrosion from leaching lead into drinking water? How many mistakes has the "water companies" made? Washington DC water company, in a miscalculated error in "chemically" adjusting the waters PH level. Did just the opposite, making the water acidic, increasing the corrosion in the entire system, leaching even more lead into water supply. (thanks for carefully adjusting my lead free water and adding lead).

I could go on and on, it's real simple, drinking water should not have lead in it! Any lead is biologically bad in people, especially kids. Every agency, trade organization, standards group, CDC, AMA to EPA says get the "led out". In 1986 the Safe Drinking Water Act was amended again, stating no plumbing device used for drinking water can contain any amount of lead. Almost in the very next paragraph starts stating minimum percentages of allowable amounts of lead! Today thirty years later, more amendments to the safe drinking water act, steel pipe with a 8% lead content is being used to deliver drinking water.

Am I overstating the lead in drinking water? I thought no meant no! It started out at the water treatment plant with no lead in it, it comes out of my kitchen sink and into my water glass with lead. I want to be careful and not overstate the fact that it's just a small amount. of carefully chemically adjusted water, that now only has minimized amounts of a dangerous heavy metal call "lead".



I think most of us have heard of Underwriters Laboratories, the group that puts the UL symbol on things telling us, we tested this and it's safe. A recent statement from those "Experts" : As originally implemented, the SDWA required public water systems to minimize lead concentrations by controlling the corrosion that resulted in lead leaching from the water system infrastructure.Typically, such control was achieved through careful management of the water’s mineral content, acidity and temperature as well as through the proper maintenance and replacement of the water system’s piping .But while effective in controlling lead concentrations after the fact, this approach did little to control the original source of the lead found in drinking water, that is, the pipes and fittings used in the installation and repair of public water systems. It also did not address plumbing fixtures found in residences and other extensions of public water systems.

What they are saying is: Closing the gate, after your cows have got out, is not very efficient!

What I think all of us that scrap anything needs to know, most things we do, can be harmful to us, our families and our community. We deal with many materials that contain lead, from steel water pipe, yellow brass door knobs to the high grade circuit boards. The simple act of cutting a metal pipe, repeating that task over and over again. Creates a ever increasing amount of metal dust, that fine dust is easily transferred to other surfaces. Can become "airborne" inhaled into our respiratory system, contaminate the soil in our gardens, carried into the house on our clothing, washed away with water and into a water supply. That big demo job, with the 100 year old water pipes needs to be handled correctly, it just might contain something called lead. Don't worry it's just a small percentage of lead and "they" been using it in everything!

Be smart, be safe, make some money and take care of your families. Next time you have a physical, doctor wants to do some blood work. ask the doctor to test your blood for lead. I did, after I got the results, I started learning about how the lead got into my blood!

Originally Posted by bigburtchino

Scrappah I said on this forum a long time ago, we won't always agree, we should still have a dialog, still respecting one another's views. My main point is there is lead in all plumbing fixtures, pipe and fittings even today, including plumbers solder and flux. The term "lead free" is just a little bit misleading, it is a greatly reduced lead content, with the industry goal of zero lead in the public water supply. Even the best water supply line for drinking water (copper pipe) has a small amount of lead, less than .5%. Remember lead is accumulated in our bodies, all of those small amounts of lead, can add up eventually to very harmful amounts.

There is still to many contaminated lead paint projects to last my lifetime. We as a society have overall decided lead poisoning is "bad stuff", started the process in the 70's of removing it in just about everything, from the gasoline in our cars to the paint on our walls. Why in the hell did we make our drinking water almost the last priority in this process of getting the "lead out". We knew lead was dangerous in the 1880's and we waited 100 years almost before we decided, it would be a good idea to test the drinking water for quality and toxic substances. The "water company" it was decided should do the testing. Water naturally has no lead in it, most of the time we are smart enough not to contaminate the water we drink. The "water Company" takes water with no lead in it to start with. Transfers it to the consumer in lead pipe, leaching lead into the drinking water and have been for years. New York Cities water company was one of the last to stop using 100% lead pipe. Continued to use 100% lead pipe from the water main to the water meter until 1961. Everything you said about the "water company" using additives to control the corrosion of pipe containing lead in it is true. That took legislation requiring them to do so, more than ten years after they knew, the water supply pipes were adding dangerous levels of lead. Why add chemicals to drinking water to minimize corrosion from leaching lead into drinking water? How many mistakes has the "water companies" made? Washington DC water company, in a miscalculated error in "chemically" adjusting the waters PH level. Did just the opposite, making the water acidic, increasing the corrosion in the entire system, leaching even more lead into water supply. (thanks for carefully adjusting my lead free water and adding lead).

I could go on and on, it's real simple, drinking water should not have lead in it! Any lead is biologically bad in people, especially kids. Every agency, trade organization, standards group, CDC, AMA to EPA says get the "led out". In 1986 the Safe Drinking Water Act was amended again, stating no plumbing device used for drinking water can contain any amount of lead. Almost in the very next paragraph starts stating minimum percentages of allowable amounts of lead! Today thirty years later, more amendments to the safe drinking water act, steel pipe with a 8% lead content is being used to deliver drinking water.

Am I overstating the lead in drinking water? I thought no meant no! It started out at the water treatment plant with no lead in it, it comes out of my kitchen sink and into my water glass with lead. I want to be careful and not overstate the fact that it's just a small amount. of carefully chemically adjusted water, that now only has minimized amounts of a dangerous heavy metal call "lead".

I think most of us have heard of Underwriters Laboratories, the group that puts the UL symbol on things telling us, we tested this and it's safe. A recent statement from those "Experts" : As originally implemented, the SDWA required public water systems to minimize lead concentrations by controlling the corrosion that resulted in lead leaching from the water system infrastructure.Typically, such control was achieved through careful management of the water’s mineral content, acidity and temperature as well as through the proper maintenance and replacement of the water system’s piping .But while effective in controlling lead concentrations after the fact, this approach did little to control the original source of the lead found in drinking water, that is, the pipes and fittings used in the installation and repair of public water systems. It also did not address plumbing fixtures found in residences and other extensions of public water systems.

What they are saying is: Closing the gate, after your cows have got out, is not very efficient!

What I think all of us that scrap anything needs to know, most things we do, can be harmful to us, our families and our community. We deal with many materials that contain lead, from steel water pipe, yellow brass door knobs to the high grade circuit boards. The simple act of cutting a metal pipe, repeating that task over and over again. Creates a ever increasing amount of metal dust, that fine dust is easily transferred to other surfaces. Can become "airborne" inhaled into our respiratory system, contaminate the soil in our gardens, carried into the house on our clothing, washed away with water and into a water supply. That big demo job, with the 100 year old water pipes needs to be handled correctly, it just might contain something called lead. Don't worry it's just a small percentage of lead and "they" been using it in everything!

Be smart, be safe, make some money and take care of your families. Next time you have a physical, doctor wants to do some blood work. ask the doctor to test your blood for lead. I did, after I got the results, I started learning about how the lead got into my blood!

Again, wow! SMF never disappoints when seeking info we need on how to do a particular job. Thank you, sir!