Posted By Mark Eden Can any one shed some light on this Scenario - Ice cream kiosk (wooden building) owned by local parish council is to be replaced with a new brick build one. Current water supply is lead pipe from stopcock 250 M from building. This water pipe is on council owned land and belongs to the council. Have contacted local water company with regard to this pipe being acceptable - not their responsibility. Have contacted local building control office - their not sure as legislation only applies to domestic property and they have never been asked about this before, they are pursuing the matter. My question is does the council have to replace the lead water pipe to the new kiosk, if so what piece of legislation dictates this. There are proposed changes to the amount of lead in water coming in to force in 2013.

Posted By Ron Hunter What are the proposed uses of this water at the kiosk? Is the lead really such an issue for hand & utensil washing and such? I think not.

Posted By Matt David Your local water company may well offer a service to sample and analyse water at the kiosk. Once armed with this information you will be able to make an informed decision on whether the lead pipe is an issue. Regards Matt

Posted By PH2 Hi Mark, your water company does NOT have to replace the lead pipe to the Kiosk. Under the Water Act 2003, they will provide a "communications pipe" from the water-main to the curtilage of the property(fence, wall or hedge). They will normally install a stopcock at that point. What happens inside the curtilage of the property is the responsibility of the property owner. Regarding the hazards of lead in water they are well documented. If you live in a "soft" water area (your supply comes from a predominantly peaty area) the water will slowly dissolve the inner surfaces of the lead pipe. Common problems can be found on Google or in good text books on the subject. Anaemia is common and can also damage the brain and nervous system. It can manifest as : -Appetite loss -Abdominal pain -Constipation -Fatigue -Sleeplessness -Headache. If continually exposed to high levels of dissolved lead it can also seriously affect the kidneys. A good plumber should be able to replace the lead pipe (which in itself is worth a lot of money as scrap) with a suitable mdpe / synthetic alternative. You can ask your water company for a test on the supply in the kiosk to see if you need to replace the lead pipe. (Some companies charge for a specific test and others don't).

Posted By Flic The quantities of lead in water that has been in a cold water pipe are small. Having said that, removing the problem altogether is desirable. Flushing the water each morning so that the water that has been stagnant in the pipe overnight will redice the levels a lot. We are not talking about acute lead poisoning from this cause. Please read this paper: http://www.pubmedcentral...tid=1497727&blobtype=pdf Flic