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AWWA WQTC64034
- A Pilot Evaluation of Brass Faucets
- Conference Proceeding by American Water Works Association, 11/01/2006
- Publisher: AWWA
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A 12-month study of six commercially available residential brass kitchen faucets was conducted to determine total and particulate lead and selenium leaching at various stagnation times as well as continuous long-term simulated residential use at the Portland Water Bureau's Water Quality Laboratory. The faucets were selected to represent varying lead content and included one faucet manufactured with Envirobrass, a brass alloy with a lead content of less than 0.25%.
A test of varying stagnation times found that the Envirobrass faucet and one other faucet had no detectable lead in 1-L samples for stagnation times as long as six hours, while the maximum lead concentration in the samples of the other faucets were found to be 2 µg/L, substantially lower than the 15 µg/L action level.
Afterwards, a sequential sampling plan of four 60-mL samples and one 760-mL sample was used to monitor the long-term changes in lead release from the faucets. The results of the four small initial samples were compared with a separate destructive metallurgical analysis of duplicate faucets to identify specific internal faucet components that were releasing lead. The final 760-mL sample was used to obtain an aggregate 1-Lsample. The maximum initial lead release from the faucets was calculated between 1 and 2 µg/L in the aggregated 1-L sample, with most faucets having lead release between an even lower 0.1 and 1 µg/L. For some faucets, very low, but detectable, lead was detected in each of the 60-mL samples, indicating that low amounts of lead was present in most, if not all, of the interior metal faucet components.
For other faucets, including the Envirobrass one, the very low lead release was isolated to only one or two parts of the faucet that contained lead. The remaining faucet components had no lead and thereforedid not contribute to any lead in the sampled water. The results also found that identical faucet lead release varied by a factor of nearly two and that the Envirobrass faucet leached lead at very low, though detectable,concentrations. Finally, continuous use of the faucets found slowly decreasing lead release due to the long-term passivation of the faucet interiors.
Selenium release from the Envirobrass faucet was found to be 0.6 µg/L or less in all samples, significantly less than the 50 µg/L MCL. Includes extended abstract only.
A test of varying stagnation times found that the Envirobrass faucet and one other faucet had no detectable lead in 1-L samples for stagnation times as long as six hours, while the maximum lead concentration in the samples of the other faucets were found to be 2 µg/L, substantially lower than the 15 µg/L action level.
Afterwards, a sequential sampling plan of four 60-mL samples and one 760-mL sample was used to monitor the long-term changes in lead release from the faucets. The results of the four small initial samples were compared with a separate destructive metallurgical analysis of duplicate faucets to identify specific internal faucet components that were releasing lead. The final 760-mL sample was used to obtain an aggregate 1-Lsample. The maximum initial lead release from the faucets was calculated between 1 and 2 µg/L in the aggregated 1-L sample, with most faucets having lead release between an even lower 0.1 and 1 µg/L. For some faucets, very low, but detectable, lead was detected in each of the 60-mL samples, indicating that low amounts of lead was present in most, if not all, of the interior metal faucet components.
For other faucets, including the Envirobrass one, the very low lead release was isolated to only one or two parts of the faucet that contained lead. The remaining faucet components had no lead and thereforedid not contribute to any lead in the sampled water. The results also found that identical faucet lead release varied by a factor of nearly two and that the Envirobrass faucet leached lead at very low, though detectable,concentrations. Finally, continuous use of the faucets found slowly decreasing lead release due to the long-term passivation of the faucet interiors.
Selenium release from the Envirobrass faucet was found to be 0.6 µg/L or less in all samples, significantly less than the 50 µg/L MCL. Includes extended abstract only.
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