Report No DWI0453

DEC 1989

To provide advice on the construction and operation of lead pipe rigs and the sampling of consumers' taps for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment to reduce plumbosolvency.

The Department of the Environment have issued a guidance document for the Water Quality Regulations. Regulation 24 is concerned with lead in water supplies. The guidance document provides various guidelines for the interpretation and application of Regulation 24.

The guidance document defines the obligation of water undertakers to determine and monitor the effectiveness of changes made to water treatment to reduce lead concentrations in consumers' tap water. The guidance document proposes that lead pipe rigs can be used for this purpose.

Section 1 provides the rationale for the use of half-hour stagnation samples in monitoring plumbosolvency. It also provides the rationale for use of lead pipe rigs and the efficacy of using "old" or "new" lead pipe in the rigs.

Sections 2 and 3 set out the basic details for the construction and operation of respectively basic and "automatic" lead pipe rigs.

Section 4 sets out the basic principles for monitoring of lead-plumbed consumers' taps.

Copies of this report may be available as an Acrobat pdf download under the 'Find Completed Research' heading on the DWI website.