Lead in water has been in the news quite a bit in the last few years. The lines that supply many homes with water are deteriorating. Lead enters the water (a process called leaching) as it corrodes the pipes that carry it. As water flows, it dissolves or wears away the pipe or the solder used to weld the pipes together. The EPA estimates that 20% or more of lead exposure comes from lead in drinking water. You want to get rid of the lead but how? Do regular water filters remove lead?
How Much Lead is Too Much?
There are federal laws that regulate the amount of lead in drinking water. The Lead and Copper Rule says that if lead concentrations exceed 15 parts per billion in more than 10% of customer taps sampled, the water providing utility must take action to control lead leaching from the pipes. Personally, I don’t want any lead in my water. However, if the amount of lead in your tap water is more than 15 ppb, you must take action.
Pitcher Filters to Remove Lead
Don’t rely on that pitcher filter to take out lead. Even Brita® discloses on their website that the standard pitcher filter and stream filter pitcher don’t remove lead. That’s because most standard carbon can’t remove lead.
Carbon Block Water Filters
Before buying a carbon block filter to remove lead, check the certification. Some carbon block filters undergo special treatment to remove lead. Be sure to look for the NSF and FDA approval. Only carbon filters that carry the NSF approval for lead removal should be trusted.
Reverse Osmosis Water Filters Remove Lead
You can trust reverse osmosis to remove most all contaminants. So yes, reverse osmosis water filters remove lead. They also remove biological contaminants and inorganic contaminants. While reverse osmosis water filters remove lead, they won’t remove chlorine. That’s not a problem because all reverse osmosis systems come with a carbon prefilter.
Best Water Filter for Lead Removal
For a point-of-use filter, we think the Lead Out filter by AquaThin is the best filter. It has 69 cubic inches of NSF and FDA approved reagent carbon to effectively remove lead below EPA approved levels. It’s easy to install right at the sink and provides an unlimited amount of water on a daily basis. Annual filter changes are quick and easy. Any do-it-yourselfer with a couple of hand tools can do the job.
Most importantly, it removes lead, arsenic, fluoride, benzene, copper, pesticides, chloramine and more. If you’re going to get a home filter to remove lead from your water, might as well get a filter that removes lead and more. You can’t trust pitcher filters and other filters to get rid of lead. You can trust an Aquathin Lead Out filter.
