LONDON, ONTARIO — The Middlesex-London Health Unit issued a warning to residents that as of July 16 all pour-through pitcher-type water filters are no longer certified by NSF International for lead reduction.

Water samples recently taken from residential taps in more than 30 cities in Ontario have come back with elevated lead levels. One in four London homes failed provincial safety standards for lead content in water, according to a July 18 article in The London Free Press.

The government had recommended that residents use point-of-use water treatment devices, including pitcher-type water filters, to reduce lead levels in drinking water.

However, in light of a recent NSF review, the Health Unit asked residents to rely on other POU water treatment systems that are NSF-certified, such as filters attached to the tap and units installed in the plumbing system.

NSF Standard 53 was revised in February 2007 to include a revised test procedure for lead reduction at pH 8.5.

Richard Andrew, operations manager for NSF’s Drinking Water Treatment Units Program, told WaterTech Online™, “The revision included a test method that specified the particulate lead content of the challenge water and included a recipe to make the water. Previously, variable amounts of particulate lead could have been generated, which led to inconsistent test results. These inconsistent results occurred on the pour-through, gravity-feed products.”

Andrew said when the new standard was published in February, NSF contacted all affected manufacturers of pour-through pitchers, letting them know that they had until July 15 to retest their products, or drop their lead reduction claims.

Andrew said, “The result of this has been that after July 15, NSF now has no pour-through pitchers certified for lead reduction.”

Lead levels in drinking water are closely watched by water supply and regulatory agencies because elevated levels in the blood can negatively impact neurological development in children.

To read the full Middlesex-London Health Unit warning, click here.

To read the The London Free Press article, click here.

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