LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tap water may have become a lot healthier in the EU.
While an EU Drinking Water Directive, effective Dec. 25, 2013 has lowered allowable lead levels in drinking water, many water supply lines and pipes in old buildings still remain out of compliance by contamination from lead pipes.
The Directive stipulates that lead, a toxin, in the drinking water is to not exceed 10 micrograms per liter (10ug/L) when tested at the first point of delivery inside a building.
The presence of lead in drinking water poses a range of risks to human health, including the retardation of some aspects of child development, the inducement of abortion, and other clinical disorders.
An initial estimate is that 25% of domestic dwellings in the EU have a lead pipe, either as a connection to the water main, or as part of the internal plumbing, or both, potentially putting 120 million people at risk from lead in drinking water within the EU.
In the UK it is estimated that some 10 million lead service lines are still in use.
The ePIPE process provides for an “in-place” installation of a hydrophobic coating, which in-effect rejects liquid molecules. The ePIPE coating is placed on the inside walls of a piping system, reducing lead from lead pipes and fittings from leaching into the drinking water supply. Using the ePIPE process, lead levels are reduced to below the World Health Organization’s (WHO) and EU guidelines for lead of 10 ug/l (10ppb). Piping systems, from 12mm in internal diameter, can be treated and returned to service in a matter of hours using this technology.
Patent #8524320 has already been granted to the developers of ePIPE by the United States Patent Office. This patent covers the in-place coating of lead pipes and reducing lead leaching into the water supply to less than 10 ug/l (10 ppb). The process is completed to pipes “in-place” reducing the need for excessive digging or tearing up a building's foundation or walls. ePIPE protected pipes and fittings allow water suppliers to discontinue the use of costly lead inhibitors.
“In the EU, we are active and have completed lead reduction programs using our ePIPE process with several proactive water utilities, housing councils and building owners in the UK and Belgium. After the ePIPE process, a first draw of standing water, tested at the tap for lead, was found to be in compliance with new WHO/EU guidelines,” commented CEO, Larry Gillanders.
About ePIPE®
The ePIPE process involves restoring pipes in-place, with the
application of a hydrophobic barrier coating. The process is a solution
for pinhole leaks, corrosion control and prevention of lead leaching
from pipes. For more information, contact:
General Contact: www.epipeinfo.com
In
the UK, contact: www.leadfreepipes.com
In
Belgium, contact: www.epipe.be
Useful
related information on drinking water and lead: www.leadfreewater.com
