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lunar_unit t1_j8rgmw1 wrote

But old lead pipes have calcification on the interiors of the pipes that diminish lead leeching into water. Part of what happened at Flint MI was that they used chemicals that eroded the calcification on the old pipes leading to soaring lead levels.

Modern drinking supply water is generally delivered on a large scale via polyethylene pipes (cheap, tough, easy to work, resists freeze cracking). Some houses do have CPVC for their interior supply pipes, and of course there's more and more PEX used (which is also polyethylene) and all the parts inside faucets, and even filters, are often plastic, so we can't really get away from it, but to make a blanket statement, as the commenter I was responding to did, that 'the water has lead , drink from plastic jugs', is inaccurate and an oversimplification, especially when the water from those plastic containers often comes from municipal water systems in the first place (which often pull water from rivers, which are also filled with pollutants.). But given those conditions, Richmond water is overall, pretty decent (at least according to the tests, which I guess, could be bullshit.)

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