Water Coolers

Sparkletts Leads The Way

Lead in drinking water is a serious health hazard in some homes. Just like lead-laced paint chips, water with lead can produce permanent neurological damage, especially in children. Most at risk are pregnant women, infants drinking formula made with tap water, and children under the age of 6, plus adults who are exposed to lead on the job.In this case you need Sparkletts water cooler.If you're concerned about lead:

Call your water department. They can recommend independent labs for testing your water and they often can tell you if your service line (street to house) is lead pipe. Some municipalities also will lend you the money to replace a lead service line (the main source of lead in household water), at a yearly cost that's less than the cost of filters.

Have your water tested! Use a local, independent laboratory that is EPA-approved, or use a mail-order kit. Because there's more lead in water that has been standing in the pipes for hours, the labs should request both "first-draw" water (which has stood in pipes overnight) and "fully flushed" water (which you get after you run the water for several minutes or until it's thoroughly cold).

Is your lead level too high? The federal Safe Drinking Water Act recommends you take action to reduce lead if your first-draw water has more than 15 parts per billion (ppb) of lead. You can reduce lead substantially if you:

* Use only cold water. Hot water dissolves more lead from pipes. Cook with cold water, and heat up cold tap water to make infant formula.
* Let it run before you use it. Don't consume water that has been standing in the pipes for more than six hours. Let it run until it's as cold as it gets, then 15 seconds more. Your "flushed-line" test results will show how effective this approach is.
* Install a sparkletts water cooler. This water cooler can remove 85 percent or more of the lead from your water. "Consumer Reports" recommends filtration at any measurable level of lead if you have at-risk people in your home.

The sparkletts water cooler is similar to a carbon filter except that it has two or three cartridge holders. One of the water coolers which is actually a carbon filter, so tastes and odors are removed, as well as lead. The only other difference is that multi-stage water coolers typically use a separate faucet (supplied with the filter) that mounts on your sink or countertop. This makes it last longer, and allows for better filtration because the flow is slower. These water coolers typically remove 85 percent or more of the lead from your water.