Brita is a known trusted brand in the water filter market and provides various filtration systems. But does the Brita filter out lead or live up to their stated claims of performance? Let’s know in deep.
The company introduced the Longlast, which claims to remove 99 percent lead, chlorine taste, and odor from tap water with 6 months of impressive filter life and produce 120 gallons.
Lead can be a dangerous thing if your water has its presence. It has many harmful health risks, especially in children and pregnant women:
- Children:- Slowed growth, Hearing problems, Can damage the peripheral nervous system, Shorter stature, Impaired formation, Anemia, etc.
- Pregnant Women:- Reduced growth of the fetus, Miscarriage risk, cause the born too early, Cause the harm to the baby’s brain, and kidneys.
So, you need to pay more attention to lead levels in your drinking water to ensure your family’s health.
This article will explain lead poisoning and how Brita is perfect in removing lead to protect us?
How does the Brita filter out lead?
As we are facing, raised concerns about harmful contaminants in our water systems across the whole country,” according to Brita General Manager Ed Huber.
The best water filter pitcher works to catch and eliminate impurities, which affect water flavor and health.
Most of us use alkaline water for better effects, but considering the presence of lead and Fluoride in the water and its effects.
Brita introduced the Longlast filters certified by NSF/WQA to eliminate 99% lead, chlorine, heavy metal, and other harmful contaminants from your house water.
Longlast is 3 times more effective, comes with six months of a great life, and has up to 120 gallons capacity.
It is the best lead removal filter cartridge compatible with all existing designs except Brita stream pitchers.
If you have lead present in your drinking water Brita longlast filter protects your family from lead exposure.
It is affordable and saves your money compared to buying 100 filtered water bottles while keeping your environment clean from plastic.
If you’re looking to learn more about does the Brita filters out lead, how it comes into your water, and what are its side effects on our body, keep reading.
Do you want to know the best filter pitcher in a different category? So, my collection of Best Water Pitcher Filter 2021 Edition will be helpful to you.
Most Brita Filters don’t filter out lead in water.
At present, all the U.S. cities aren’t facing a lead problem in their water supplies. It depends on your location in different cities in the country.
Now, a question may arise in your mind: which Brita water filter is best in removing lead and provides great-tasting filtered water at an affordable price?
Brita Longlast filter is a fast and great filter that can effectively remove lead from your drinking water.
It also does not mean that all Brita filters are equally efficient to remove lead.
You can see on the chart from the Brita site what they do filter out or whatnot?
image: brita.com
You can see in the given pitcher filter, Longlast and Faucet are the most effective water filter for lead, heavy metal, chlorine taste, and odor.
Longlast filters are popular due to their excellent performance.
So finally, we can say that Brita is perfect at removing lead very effectively.
How does lead get into our water?
Not any amount of lead can be considered safe. But if you live in the United States, you have likely consumed lead.
What’s Shocking
According to AWWA 2016, 15 to 22 million Americans drank from tap water which supplies lead-based service lines.
Now, the USA identified around 2,000 water supply systems from all 50 U.S. states where tests confirmed lead contamination between 2013 to 2016.
The Detroit Free Press said that more than 100 major U.S. cities still have 100% lead piping for connecting water to homes.
Let’s take a look at how lead makes its way into your clean water. Drinking water comes from aquifers and rivers then piped to a water treatment plant.
In most cases, water leaves the plant lead-free, but the greater risk comes after water treatment. When the water is sent via mains and service lines.
Lead pipes were common from the mid 19th through the mid-20th century because they had a longer life than clay or other metal lines.
There may be several causes of corrosion dissolving and lead entering the water, including:
- Water temperature
- Amount of wear in the house pipes,
- How long does the water stay in the supply pipes,
- The appearance of protective coatings or scales inside the pipe.
- Water chemistry (acidity and alkalinity) and the types of water minerals amounts.
- The quantity of lead that comes into contact
Pittsburgh has reported, that Flint Michigan has nearly a quarter of its pipes containing lead. Although lead in paint and soil also contributes to contamination.
Brita pitcher can filter out lead content from the water. Many water utilities have their programs to replace lead pipes, but that often only applies to lines they own.
You have the option to replace lead service lines on your property within your home, but be aware that may cost thousands of dollars.
And the other hand much cheaper options are available as the best hard water pitcher with most contaminants removing capacity.
What are the effects of lead poisoning on the human body?
Many of us make alkaline water to get better health results in which we use tap water. But, if the amount of lead in the water is high, it can affect even more fatal lead exposure on our health.
That’s why the EPA has set a target of zero for the maximum contaminant level of lead in water. It is a poisonous metal that can be dangerous to human health, even with low levels.
Lead is persistent over a long period, and it can accumulate in our bodies. Where lead would have a tiny impact on an adult can have a significant on a child.
Let us know the several effects of lead on different categories:-
Lead Effects on Children
- Slowed growth
- Hearing problems
- Lead can harm the peripheral and central nervous systems.
- Shorter stature
- Impaired formation and function of blood cells.
- Anemia
- Behavior and learning problems
- Lower IQ and hyperactivity
- In some rare cases can cause seizures, coma, and even death.
- Can be responsible for fatigue, loss of appetite
- Weight loss, abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation
Lead Effects on Pregnant Women
- Reduced growth of the fetus
- Miscarriage risk.
- May cause the born too early or too small size.
- Cause the hurt to the baby’s brain, kidneys
- Bad effect on the nervous system.
- Children can have learning or behavior problems.
Lead Effects on Adults
- Abdominal pain and constipation.
- Joint and muscle pain
- Numbness or tingling of the extremities
- Headache, memory loss.
- Increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension
- Decreased kidney function
- Reproductive problems (in both men and women)
- (Source)
Please Note
According to EPA, the lead action level is 15 parts per billion (ppb). After exceeding, the limit water utilities have to take action to lower the levels in the supply. (Source)
How to test your water for Lead?
Lead is a toxin that is colorless, odorless, and can’t be seen by the naked eyes when dissolved in water. So how can you confirm that there’s lead in your tap water?
1. Firstly, you can get Consumer Confidence Report (water quality report) from your area municipality. This report is released each year by July 1st.
All the public water suppliers have to provide water quality reports for free. But, EPA does not regulate private wells. So, it’s the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain their water quality.
You can also get water quality reports of all suppliers from the EWG Water Database, which provides a browsable collection.
2. If you don’t get your Consumer Confidence Report, you can also communicate with your local health department for further information.
3. You can buy the water test kit for lead. Many houses may have internal plumbing supplies containing lead. Although you cannot smell, see, or taste lead dissolved in your drinking water.
The testing kit is the best way to confirm whether there are harmful quantities of lead in your drinking water or not. You can get a test kit online, which provides instant results for lead present in your house water.
4. The best and most accurate way is to consult your local water supplier or government agencies.
They will provide you with a list of certified independent water-testing labs in your area. Where can get a water test done for the lead at costs between $40 to $150?
Heads Up!
The lead does not spread evenly in your water. If you test the water instantly can get 2 ppb of lead. But after 5 minutes, you might get 10 ppb.
And tomorrow, it could suddenly have 1,000 ppb. So, also a direct water test cannot ensure that you have lead-free clean water.
Important Steps- You can take to remove Lead in drinking water
Water Filtration Methods
It is the most popular way to lead reduction from your house tap water supply:
Reverse osmosis purifying– It is considered one of the best ways to eliminate lead from hard water.
Using an activated carbon filter – Is also an excellent method to resolve your problem. An activated carbon filter can efficiently absorb lead and other heavy metals during water filtration. Although, all carbon filters are not the same efficient. Some of them can lose their removal capabilities quickly as compared to others.
Use KDF-55 filtration – In the KDF-55 filtration process, soluble lead is decreased into the insoluble lead and then electroplated onto the media surface.
Other effective steps you can take
Run your tap water. Flush the home’s pipes by running the water before taking a shower, drinking, or doing a load of dishes. Flush time depends on whether your home has a lead pipeline or not and the length of the line. You can also contact your area water utility for recommendations for flushing times.
Test your water. You can contact your water municipality to know more about the lead levels in the water supply.
Regularly clean your aerator. It is important to clean your faucet’s screen (aerator) regularly because debris, sediment, and lead particles may collect in the tap aerator. Lead particles can get into your water if you don’t pay attention.
Use your best water filter pitcher correctly. Always make sure that your filter is certified to lead reduction from your water. Follow the user instructions to install, and you need a replacement filter cartridge on time.
Know about your service line. To confirm whether your main water line is made from lead or not, you need to contact any licensed plumber or your area water supplier.
Be aware of neighborhood construction. It’s not something to ignore any construction or maintenance work in your neighborhood. It can disturb your water lead service line and may cause more lead released into your water supply.
Use cold water. You are advised to use only cold water for cooking, drinking, and making baby food.
FAQ
What does lead in water taste like?
You cannot identify lead on your own because Lead has no taste and smell.
What does lead in water look like?
Lead is invisible to the naked eye. It could not see in tap water and well water.
Does the Brita filter out lead effectively?
As we explain, Brita water pitchers are the best affordable and durable to remove lead. That can protect your family for a long time against lead effects.
Does reverse osmosis effectively remove lead from your water?
Yes, the Reverse Osmosis filtration system is good in eliminating lead from drinking water by more than 99 percent depending on your RO model.
Can boiling remove lead from water?
Unfortunately, it cannot remove lead from water. Although, boiling eliminates volatile chemicals and kills waterborne pathogens.
It is not so easy to evaporate lead. Despite this, the heating process may increase lead levels in the water.
Does Brita filter out fluoride with lead?
As a result of the fluoride meter, the Brita water filter does not remove fluoride from your water. We got the same fluoride in filtered water after the filtration.
Conclusion
However, lead side effects cannot be ignored at all. We have seen that Brita filters out lead very effectively, and it is a better option for lead removal, which is very economical.
Apart from this, we can also take some steps as suggested above. They can reduce the amount of lead.
We always have to take care of our family’s health by being conscious of it.
I hope you got some valuable information from my article