We’re Lead Free in Austin, But Drinking Water Concerns Lurk Outside
The issue of lead penetrating our drinking water supplies is something that’s been getting a lot of attention lately, thanks to news coverage of the problems with the drinking water supply in Flint, Michigan. The problem there was caused by a series of moves that caused corrosive river water to be used as the main drinking water source, resulting in lead from outdated supply lines to leach into the water going into peoples’ homes.
We’re fortunate here in Leander that the water quality is very good and there have been measures to address lead in place for at least 20 years, if not more. There is an issue here with hardness, and it’s even more of a factor in some of the areas immediately outside of Austin, but it’s something that can be dealt with pretty easily.
An Ounce Of Prevention is Worth A Pound Of Cure
If there’s one potential problem for drinking water supply that I’d recommend homeowners be conscious of, it’s the importance of having a device called a vacuum breaker installed on their outside faucets. Those devices are present to prevent that one-in-a-million chance of an outside contaminant getting siphoned back into the home’s water supply.
Vacuum Breakers Offer Protection
What happens is there can be a hose hooked up to an outdoor faucet and the end of it might end up resting in a body of water or something else that becomes hazardous. Without a vacuum breaker installed, that contaminated water can find its way back into the drinking supply of your home and make people ill. I know someone that this happened to who ended up in the hospital, and we were brought in to try to determine what caused it.
Schedule An Installation
An incident like that showed just how important it is to have those devices installed on all outdoor faucets, and how necessary it is to keep them on once they are installed. If you’re unsure whether your home has these important safeguards in place, give us a call and we’ll tell you what to look for, and schedule a visit for our Leander plumbing company to get them installed the right way fast.