Abstract

Drinking water in newly constructed houses often contains increased amounts of lead, nickel and copper. Consequently, it does not meet the quality standards set by the Drinking Water Act of the Netherlands. It is possible that the drinking water quality is also inadequate at the completion of these houses. To date, no acute health risks have been associated with this deficiency. The established quality standards are based on long-term exposure of individuals to these metals, which most likely does not occur with residents of newly built houses.
This problem can be rectified by regularly flushing the water in each tap for a considerable length of time during house construction and by flushing the taps each morning for several minutes during the first months of occupancy. Plumbers/installers and/or the water company should provide the occupants of newly built houses with better information on this subject.
This is the conclusion drawn by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands after analysing the drinking water quality in nearly one hundred newly constructed houses. This project was carried out in collaboration with Kiwa Water Research and a number of laboratories run by water companies.
Increased amounts of lead, nickel and copper were found in almost all of the newly constructed houses investigated. These metals originated from the materials used in the construction of the plumbing system, such as taps, meters, connectors and pipes. High counts of microorganisms were also found, but there no was no evidence of pathogenic microorganisms in the drinking water samples.