Lead found in water in Toronto homes

A study, recently released, found that drinking water in more than half of 100 older Toronto homes tested last summer exceeded the acceptable level of lead - by as much as eight times the accepted standard!

The culprit? Aging water pipes. Those aging pipes, which would have been installed sometime before 1955, could be putting up to 65,000 households at risk.

Lead can seriously harm the intellectual and behavioral development of infants, young children and particularly babies in the womb, who are particularly vulnerable to ingesting and absorbing the heavy metal.

I can't help but wonder if the people living in those homes know that there are dangerous levels of lead in their drinking water; and whats more, if the people living in those 65,000 households know what they need to do to eliminate the lead in their drinking water.

There are several simple things that residents can do to lesson the amount of lead they will get in their drinking glass - like running the faucet for at least 5 minutes before using the water (what a waste of water - not to mention time). By far the most effective way or removing the lead contamination and saving water and time is to simply install a water filter that has the ability to remove lead.

This problem of lead in older water pipes is certainly not isolated to Toronto. If you live in an older home, in any city, you need to be concerned about lead contamination in your drinking water. The risk to children, both born and unborn, is great but the solution is simple and will cost less than a night at the movies. Can you afford to take the chance?

Learn more about your water filter options.