Use of Lead Free Pipes, Fittings, Fixtures, Solder, and Flux for Drinking Wate

Use of Lead Free Pipes, Fittings, Fixtures, Solder, and Flux for Drinking Water

Final "Lead Free" Rule

On September 1, 2020,  the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the final regulation "Use of Lead Free Pipes, Fittings, Fixtures, Solder, and Flux for Drinking Water." In the final rule, EPA makes conforming changes to existing regulations based on the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act (RLDWA) and the Community Fire Safety Act enacted by Congress. The final rule also requires that manufacturers or importers certify that their products meet the requirements using a consistent verification process within 3 years of the final rule publication date in the Federal Register. As a result, this new rule will reduce lead in drinking water and assure that states, manufacturers, inspectors and consumers have a common understanding of “Lead Free” plumbing.

Overview of Lead Free Requirements of Safe Drinking Water Act

Section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) establishes the definition for “lead free” as a weighted average of 0.25% lead calculated across the wetted surfaces of a pipe, pipe fitting, plumbing fitting, and fixture and 0.2% lead for solder and flux. The Act also provides a methodology for calculating the weighted average of wetted surfaces.

The Act prohibits the “use of any pipe, any pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture, any solder, or any flux, after June 1986, in the installation or repair of (i) any public water system; or (ii) any plumbing in a residential or non-residential facility providing water for human consumption, that is not lead free.”

Additionally there is a prohibition on introducing a pipe, any pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture, any solder, or any flux that is not lead free into commerce; unless the use is for manufacturing or industrial purposes.

The SDWA includes several exemptions from the lead free requirements, specifically for plumbing devices that are used exclusively for nonpotable services, as well as a list of specific products: toilets, bidets, urinals, fill valves, flushometer valves, fire hydrants, tub fillers, shower valves, service saddles, or water distribution main gate valves that are 2 inches in diameter or larger.

NINGBO YINZHOU PLUMBING HARDWARE CO.，LTD supplied kinds of lead free meter couplings, valves, and fire hydrant adapter.

NSF approved Lead Free Bronze Locking Expansion Connection for 3/4'' water meter from China manufacturer - Ningbo Yinzhou Plumbing Hardware Co., Ltd. (yzplumbing.com)

NSF Approved 1/2′′-2′′ Lead Free Bronze or Brass Water Meter Fitting from China manufacturer - Ningbo Yinzhou Plumbing Hardware Co., Ltd. (yzplumbing.com)

NSF-61 Approved Lead Free Brass Fire Hydrant Adapter from China manufacturer - Ningbo Yinzhou Plumbing Hardware Co., Ltd. (yzplumbing.com)