Why Do We STILL Use Lead Pipes?!

[@MinuteEarth]

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[@I_dont_knows]

This vid is sooo cool!

[@generallyexplained6881]

Do checkout my channel too❤ I make Informative content💗

[@ataarono]

Replacing lead pipes would hurt the environment because we would be using plastic pipes! Bad move MinuteEarth show some of the negatives too!

[@ricoautosauve7849]

MinuteEarth Even though you’re obviously not a lead channel I think you should put some research into the levels of lead from more innocuous sources like brass keys and flexible PVC that really don’t face much regulation due to the technology without lead being “unfeasible and out of reach”

[@weirdernow]

OK Mrs minute earth and Mr minute earth. Yayayayay

[@DoctorX17]

I like lead in places where it can't poison me, like sealed in another metal in radiation shielding, not my pipes

[@sleepydog9968]

yes. not dying seems nice

[@tricky778]

In the UK we put it around windows in roofs and chimneys and any other places in roofs where water might get in around an awkward shape. Of course water runs over this into the reservoirs and fields of food and children have direct unsupervised access to it.

[@sleepydog9968]

@@tricky778 oh dear. didn't know that fact, thanks! (and hope they get it sorted somehow) 👍

[@cageybee7221]

@@sleepydog9968 the modern solution is usually plastic or polymer, he is probably talking about older victorian and before era homes when those other safer technologies didn't exist. though i'm not sure as i don't live in the UK they might still use lead in new homes.

[@ballpython3310]

@@cageybee7221 They have some odd rules their to maintain the authenticity of old houses. Like how if a house had a thatch roof you can't replace it with a modern one, I wonder if the same thing can apply to sealers there. The US has similar rules but they apply to far fewer houses and there are usually ways around them.

[@TheScienceBiome]

"Poisoning people one refreshing drink at a time!" - Minute Earth 2020

[@salimaa9209]

i saw you in the TED talk truly amazing.

[@bcubed72]

Lead pipes endangers noone if you know what the hell you're doing. It's just that "lead" mixes poorly with "dumbassedry."

[@MrYerak5]

Same as soft drinks, when you think about it

[@juliemittel3931]

sounds like something graystillplays would say when he plays a game about running a lemonade stand

[@average_rainworld_enjoyer]

@Lika _draws101 HOW DARE THEY

[@oriondye3212]

“Yes let us replace all those lead pipes with plastic ones.” 50 years later, “Let us discuss the dangers of dissolved plastics in our water.”

[@thebogangamer1]

in australia we use concert and copper lol.

[@dinamosflams]

@@thebogangamer1 costly to maintain and not durable

[@thebogangamer1]

@@dinamosflams at least we have no lead in our water.

[@dinamosflams]

@@thebogangamer1 life without spicy water is no life

[@WlatPziupp]

@@dinamosflams Lead is sweet, not spicy

[@dancepiglover]

I used to work at a vet clinic and, once when we were talking about lead toxicity, the vet actually said that it has no affect on anyone older than 6! I was speechless; I simply didn’t know how to respond. Needless to say, I ended up quitting due to lots of problems.

[@David_Apollonius]

Children are more vulnerable to lead. That doesn't mean it's not bad for you.

[@SerPapus]

It’s bad for you at any age.

[@gio0042]

You should've offered him some lead oxide to snort

[@zero5496]

Wow really? How did he got a diploma in the first place?

[@BeHappyTo]

@@zero5496 same way you get any diploma, memorise answers to questions and forget a year after passing

[@probablynotabigtoe9407]

"Empires perish, but lead pipes persist" Oh the Irony in that statement.

[@GhostGlitch.]

I don't see it, can you explain?

[@brandonchan5387]

@@GhostGlitch. I think it means this: lead pipes poison people, leading to empires to crumble. But the lead lasts longer, and people of the next empire to take over boasts about how the lead pipes persisted. And then they get poisoned by lead and are replaced by yet another empire.

[@bugsiins3407]

i don't think that's irony bro

[@cxiliapersono]

@@bugsiins3407 yeah, i think "leady" suits better

[@necrisro]

@@bugsiins3407 One of the reasons the Roman Empire fell is because of lead poisoning.

[@UloPe]

In Germany the water regulations mandate that all lead pipes had to have been replaced by end of 2013. Most regions already had stopped using lead pipes sind the late 1870s though.

[@ebbingkiilian1933]

Former plumber from Germany here-strictly speaking, that's very true. But also, in practice, we still came across an old lead pipe or two, roughl every four months, usually in older houses, unbeknownst to the owners and anyone living in there. And I only stopped working as a plumber 5 years ago.

[@PhilTruthborne]

Gonna be hard to convince people of power that health is more important than money

[@fivade6534]

Also the people

[@cmarley314]

We're doing it for the virus though... Killing jobs for public health

[@supercalifragic1551]

Can you not be reductive as though wealth is the sole evil in the world? You're talking about foundational infrastructure that's run through cities for generations with an incredible amount of man hours it would take to go through and disrupt cities as you go through replacing them. It would take incredible time, man hours, labor, and everybody who just loves it when their favorite road(s) are closed off for construction. If you start a full scale martial law type effort right now, it could still take a decade.

[@N12015]

Specially when those safer pipes have a serious problem: IS EXPENSIVE, and is public money the used while being replaced, so it won't guarantee a healtier system.

[@electronresonator8882]

it makes a lot of sense...since by getting more money means that they can avoid drinking from the pipe.. like how people make money from oil and coal, can you go and live on Mars if you have no money?

[@kaiserwilhelmiiemperorofge2801]

ah yes, the perfect think to make me feel safe during quarantine.

[@evantyler8647]

Ikr?

[@CadetGriffin]

Oh, the thinks you can think!

[@blazemordly9746]

Life’s not aboot feelin safe. Now, where’s my blankey....blankey...blanket where are you? *wanders off down the hall*

[@TheGuyThatsNotFunny]

Ja, mein Kaiser

[@SpacingOut_]

Yes... yes..

[@watchm4ker]

Hard water is just replacing one problem with another, because that 'crusty buildup' gets into *every* pipe or container. It narrows supply pipes, outright block interior pipes, and can severely harm any kind of boiler by forming an insulating layer over the heating element. It's better then lead poisoning, certainly, but pipe replacement should be pursued above calcifying the water supply.

[@benalor1973]

With time and when we don't have an Economy or Powerful foe rising in the east.

[@absalomdraconis]

Calcification _must_ be pursued, because replacing the pipes (even just because of the crews _available_ to do it) will take decades anyways!

[@absalomdraconis]

@@benalor1973 : It's going to happen anyways. The places that can afford it are doing it when they can, just to cut down on future problems. They'll eventually have to replace the pipes anyways.

[@blackoak4978]

Typically households do not have lead pipes, so water softeners can avoid most of those issues by taking the minerals out after the water has left the dangerous pipes

[@majorfallacy5926]

Wasn't it actually common knowledge in ancient Rome that new lead pipes had to be in use for a few years before you could drink from them?

[@jlammetje]

Major Fallacy wouldn’t surprise me, the ancient Romans had a lot of things figured out.

[@CamillaBishops]

I don't really know, but Rome has very hard water even today, so it would make sense.

[@smalltime0]

@@CamillaBishops Given that they tunnelled through rocks to supply their water, yeah it had a bit of dissolved minerals in it.

[@warb_of_fire]

Adding phosphate also isn't ideal when the water isn't filtered properly before it goes back into the local watershed, for example when there are cross-connections or inadequate sewage treatment. Then it contributes to eutrophication along with what's already being done by the sewage itself.

[@nathaniel907]

Then what should we instead of replacing them? And are lead poisoning common in cities that use lead pipes ?

[@JohnDlugosz]

@@nathaniel907 A plastic and epoxy "sock" is unrolled into the old pipe by blowing through it. It fixes the old leaks and presents a barrier to the metal. No, it's not common: it's scandalous when a community doesn't buffer the water during treatment and tries to deny the problem and fake the test results instead.

[@IolcanPK]

@@JohnDlugosz Hey, this sounds like the stent operation surgeons do to prevent aneurysms

[@somerandoontheinternet4224]

This is why i'm going to leave the USA

[@connorconnor2421]

Iron and lead in the same world? What is this heresy

[@darkenergy3742]

Terraria much?

[@hotcrossballs]

Next they'll be telling us platinum exists alongside gold

[@3ghin5]

Got em

[@codybau7515]

I would say copper and tin, but due to starting tools and coins, you can acquire some copper

[@jarjarbinksno1fan126]

Best comment

[@mrblond750]

Here’s an interesting scenario. I have a sidewalk on my property, tree roots push the sidewalk up causing a trip hazard, the city sends me a repair order. It costs over 1K to have the tree removed, and the sidewalk re-poured. I’m responsible for fixing a public use space, that’s BS but I get it. Meanwhile government and utility are completely aware that lead pips can lead to poison and choose to rely on the thin brittle mineral covering to protect its citizens over replacing the piping, which we all know is best. This is just one reason we need to eliminate finical interest in government.

[@habi0187]

Here in Germany all public water pipes have been changed about 20 years ago. In some very old houses it is said that there are still some lead pipes but honestly I have never seen one. Additionally the limits for lead in water are much lower than in the US but on the downside we have to pay for our water and also the waste water. In my area it is something like 6 Euro per 1000 liter. But in order not to be poisoned and to keep the rivers clean I am happy to pay this costs.

[@Bleiser3]

Here in finland I pay 20€ flat every month for water no matter the usage. Some of my relatives pay 25€. Price varies and sometimes theres usage price too.

[@salter1630]

Americans pay for water

[@ponivi]

yeah over here in the US we have lead in our pipes and we have to pay (about 1/6th as much) for our water and shitty landlords will double your water payment just for funsies sometimes

[@habi0187]

@@ponivi as a landlord (I hate this word) myself I can assure you the doubling of the water biöll would not be legal in Germany. The government very strictly regulates what you can bill to your tenants. Regarding the payment for water I thought that this cost would be included in your sky jigh property taxes. I live in a pretty big house (according to European standards, approx. 2200 square feet) in a smaller city in Germany close to a metro area and my property tax is below 750 Euro per year. What do you get in return for your property taxes? Also the insurance for the house is only 450 Euro (flooding excluded but I live on a small hill). Some years ago my employer offered me a johe b in Atlanta which looked very attractive at the first glance but considering all the downsides like paying for the education of my children and the stupid Healthcare system of the US I decided to stay in Germany. However I did check the housing market and was shocked by the skyhigh rates you have to pay for house insurance in the US.

[@ponivi]

@ we pay specifically for all our utilities and stuff on top of property tax. Our landlords love to make a „sewage“ bill that mysteriously costs the same as our water bill. Im pretty sure its illegal here but the average american is in debt so they just do it anyways since very few people sue Also the insurance rates are not helped by the fact that our houses are built poorly

[@FRY524]

The Flint Michigan thing was really undersold in this video. It was a disaster that the state government forced the city to endure for years.

[@Hakasedess]

The ongoing water crisis in Flint really shouldn't be referred to in the past tense.

[@FactThis]

Lead concentrations in Flint's water have fallen well within federal guidelines for quite a while now. The health impacts are probably ongoing, but the water has been found to be safe at almost every source tested since 2017.

[@David_Last_Name]

Yup, it took about 3 years. Thus PROOF that this can, in fact, be done in a reasonable time scale...... Oh wait, it cost MONEY?! Nevermind then.

[@FlintTD]

@@FactThis Have lead levels decreased because the local officials was bombarded into mixing the lining minerals back into their water supply, or have they decreased because the city dug up the lead pipes and replaced them with safe materials? Were the people monitoring the lead-levels, and claiming they are safe, using the EPA guidelines that this very video says aren't based in science? Because I suspect that no actual progress has been made on solving the underlying causes of the Flint Water Crisis.

[@nolaffinmatter]

​@@FlintTD Researchers have shown that, as of 2017, the water supply in Flint, MI has been fixed to the point where lead levels are actually *lower* than they were in 2012, before the crisis. www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/05/a-brand-new-look-at-lead-contamination-in-flint/

[@FlintTD]

@@nolaffinmatter You didn't actually engage with my point, which was that leaving lead pipe infrastructure installed leaves the communities those pipes service vulnerable. They remain vulnerable to bad local administrations, who believe that they can cut costs by switching to cheap water services which do things like skimping on mineral lining. The exact article you linked reinforces my point, because D.C. also skimped on mineral lining, and all of their vulnerable communities were hit (even harder than Flint's!). Because this happened meerely a decade before the Flint Crisis, the Flint administration should have already known to be wary of making the mistake they did. And yet, they made the same mistake over again, because cost cutting on bare-minimum services looks attractive to unempathetic leaders. The USA needs water infrastructure which is more robust, to protect citizens who are vulnerable to necessary services being compromised by bad leadership.

[@Tiniuc]

For some reason, I read 'LEAD' as 'LEWD'. I think I've had enough internet for today.

[@bcubed72]

I'm gonna work you over with a lewd pipe..,.

[@fakestory1753]

stay away from lewd water

[@andibrahimi9924]

I think u have had enough hentai for today...

[@juststopitsunsettlingmygoo4945]

LMAO

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Reminds me of Newark where my mom is from (But she no longer lives there). They’ve had a water crisis since 2016 because of the lead pipes. As of the beginning of this year, over 200K residents have been affected by elevated levels of lead

[@DavidVargasColombia]

and if I remember correctly, the problem was caused by the utility company changing the chemical used to create that pipe coating. It wasn't effective, leading to the coating to disintegrate and causing lead leakage. Its a sorry situatiion. Best wishes to your mum!!

[@Tatusiek_1]

Avery the Cuban-American YOU ARE EVERYWHERE

[@BeezerWashingbeard]

I see your comments everywhere.

[@redgreen2453]

Is the answer money? I bet the answer is "because of money." If the question is "why do we..." it's because someone, somewhere is profiting off of it. Usually the same people who are profiting off of everything else.

[@absalomdraconis]

It's both expensive to replace pipe (the stuff running to your house is about $100 _per foot..._ and that's _not_ because of the pipe itself), and _slow_ to replace pipe. However, if you _really_ want it done, you can get part of it done early by paying for the length that runs to your house to be replaced out of your own pocket.

[@fireworkstarter]

Yea good luck shotting down infrastructure and pay some plebs to put the stuff in the ground for free.

[@druhu4590]

You can turn every engineering issue into "because money" because money = manpower, and engineering/infrastructure take manpower. You can try to frame this as "big wig at the top doesn't care about the little guy," but all these infrastructure projects carry a hefty price with them, which you and your neighbors will end up paying, so really the people saving money, or "profiting", are just the people, the common taxpaying man. Maybe that's a bad decision, it definitely could be, but the mere fact that it is "because money" does not make it immoral, as that money (manpower!) could go to lots of other good things.

[@Doublemonk0506]

It's also because if you want to replace the pipes, you'll have to shut off water from an area, which is a massive inconvenience as you won't have water from anywhere to a few hours to a few days

[@justAguyDs]

I love how bad the puns are

[@mvmlego1212]

I don't. To each their own, though, I guess.

[@zaytaz9331]

Yup

[@Melomathics]

Damn it, I really didn't need to know this.

[@ataarono]

comon just take another sip... its good for you ! ;)

[@isaaclarson5653]

Copper pipes contain high amounts of lead in them. Granted it's not as much as lead pipes themselves, but it's enough that I need to wash my hands after working on them.

[@GameFuMaster]

@@isaaclarson5653 So they're not copper then, but an alloy?

[@isaaclarson5653]

@@GameFuMaster I guess, but it isn't done on purpose. Copper ore naturally contains high amounts of lead, and the process of taking that out is way too expensive.

[@ricoautosauve7849]

Isaac Larson I’m fairly certain most modern copper pipes have strict lead limits in terms of ppm that are well controlled and made clear when marketed to consumers. I’d be more concerned about flexible PVC and brass keys (1.5-2% lead).

[@ZephyrsTuneOfficial]

You should have totally mentioned Clair Cameron Patterson.

[@JR-vc4gm]

Wow, this is so scaring. I need a glass of fresh water to calm down.

[@samuelding7854]

Uh oh

[@myopinionsarefacts]

Last time I was this early Flint had clean water

[@skie6282]

Congress actually passed a large sum of millions if dollars for flint years ago, you can look it up.

[@dynamicworlds1]

@@skie6282 and it still has poisoned water.

[@ballpython3310]

@@dynamicworlds1 ? Flint switched back to the non toxic water and by now the scaling should have built up, are you referring to something other than lead?

[@OneViolentGentleman]

Wasn't Flint also the city where you could ignite the water because of the fracking they did there?

[@ImBigFloppa]

DynamicWorlds Flint has had perfectly save drinking water since 2017. Quit spouting out the same line year after year of it being fixed.

[@imariwalker]

Very informative video! I think it’s important that everyone knows how to look up county water quality information pages and know how to test their own water to compare. Thanks for sharing.

[@thefistofshadow7392]

Im so glad i live in switzerland where leadpipes are mostly replaced and allmost everywhere we use galvanized/stainless steel or plastic pipes.

[@ricoautosauve7849]

Even though Switzerland isn’t a member of the EU I believe I think the European market at large has had lead used as a thermal stabilizer in PVC pipes up until about 2019 I think.

[@mvmlego1212]

The video mentioned that, historically, longevity was a huge advantage of lead pipes. Does Switzerland have to replace its pipes every few decades, or did it solve the longevity problem in some other way?

[@PlasmicDynamite]

Galvanized steel is kind of terrible for water. It’s good for 20-50 years until it becomes gradually clogged off by the rust buildup inside.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

Doesn't plastic degrade fairly quickly? Wouldn't you end up with like microplastics in your water?

[@thefistofshadow7392]

In swizerland leadpipes are banned sins 1914 , copper was used for some time but for most lines they use steel or plastic pipes, so there is no lead used in any pipes, unless in some rly old buildings. Galvanized steelpipes have no problems with cold water lines, its only a problem if the water is over 60°C. But those arent rly used, if you build new waterlines. Thats why if you build or renovate a building stainless steel and pvc pipes are used. PVC Pipes are only used for short connections inside homes and isnt just made out of plastic, it has different layers with different materials. And i rater have a little plastic in my water, than a lot more lead.

[@scottfranco1962]

There is a lot of missing or misstated facts here. First, Flint was not caused by lack of minerals, it was caused by using water with a radically different PH which leached lead from the pipes at an accelerated rate. Second, in Roman times they did not use pressurized water systems, but had water continually flowing from the source in the mountains to the taps in the streets and houses. The water didn't have time to leach out lead from the pipes. It only became a problem when we used pressurized water, essentially leaving water in the pipes for long periods of time.

[@Sevenhens]

"Didn't have time to leech"??? Is this some kind of scientific insight you're getting into?? Hilariously wrong physics lmao. If you don't understand diffusion, then don't say things you don't understand

[@kawaiipotatoes1249]

False, what are your sources? Ancient plumbing absolutely shows evidence of pressurized systems during the Roman Empire and even before then in the Middle East/ North Africa during the Islamic Golden Age (8th-11th century), and I would be willing to bet that there were people before them that had figured something out that laid the basics for modernization!

[@lukassnakeman]

everyone: someone should do something about this problem" how about a small donation or putting some thought into your voting choices? also everyone: no

[@ADAJ342]

It certainly wouldn't be small

[@Nufuckingway]

@@ADAJ342 small donations, one pipe at the time

[@EpicWolverine]

I don’t think you understand the scale of this problem.

[@Merlincat007]

Problem is, most politicians aren't willing to put money into anything they can conceivably kick down the road. In our system, voting often has no effect on some of these systemic problems. Also, don't blame voters for being unsure when they receive extremely poor political education and constant media propaganda for the status quo.

[@KuK137]

@@Merlincat007 That's the thing - lower classes in early 1900s were attacked with far worse propaganda and had no education at all yet were sane and sensible enough to vote for left and NEVER voted for parties of 1%. In a sense, we got too rich and stupid, you can throw a few crumbs to modern idiot and he won't realize rich are keeping 99.9% of the cake...

[@megadestroyer454]

Because it "costs too much to fix the problem" just like any other lame political excuse.

[@absalomdraconis]

Pipes _are_ slowly getting replaced though. It's just that even normal pipes (which are on the cheaper end of replacement costs) take about $100 per foot, and you have to shut off the water going through the pipe to do it.

[@hamza3065]

Yeah the Cost is the dumbest thing human race came up with, we can fuck up anything, and bear Real costs just to save some imaginary costs.

[@42billybob]

We could rely on conscription / slave labour & stolen assets. We could hire people to do years of work & then not pay them. We could force the poor & middle class to pay for it by taxing the hell out of them, digging into what they currently budget for living expenses & retirement savings. We could raise taxes on the rich, have them play shell games with their money, still not actually get the money, and force the poor & middle class to pay for it. We could make room in the budget by cutting major expenses that the poor & middle class rely on. We could hook ourselves up to a debt that we'll never be able to pay back & have the country do the equivalent of living paycheck to paycheck making interest payments forever (ie:tax the unborn). Or *you* could pay for it (seems like the best option considering you're the one who doesn't think cost matters).

[@ReaSeBy]

Richard Casterly Maybe the government should force everyone to work for free with guns against their head... oh wait

[@zvxcvxcz]

@Richard Casterly Not exactly imaginary, but virtual, not physical, not tangible in the same way lead poisoning is. And contrary to 42billybob, governments have been able to mobilize cash when they think something is important, including successful extraction from the rich (e.g. I hear actually funding the IRS has pretty great returns). He also doesn't seem very well informed on the national debt... both in that the situation already is what he describes anyway, and also that it isn't actually that much of a problem.

[@SandTheNub]

*"Lead is poisonous"* Me : **Sees title** *(Chuckles) I'm in danger*

[@WTFisthisshitWTF]

Luke Goh What a cringy comment

[@plant5875]

@@WTFisthisshitWTF What a cringy comment

[@shaider1982]

I rememer reading an article from a late 1960's reader's digest were a family was poisoned by lead from an improperly glazed ceramic pitcher. The pitcher held orange juice whose acidty helped leach the lead out.

[@sabersibertiger1520]

I quit water.

[@WarlordToby]

Keep raising awareness on dangers of lead pipes and have officials act on the issue and begin the expensive replacement programs. -Me, who happens to work in the field with an excavator (It was a quiet winter)

[@c3slayer72]

Minute earth: plumbers prefer plum bum Me: *smirks* plum bum

[@abaundwal]

Stfu dude

[@fireworkstarter]

@@abaundwal git gud boi

[@TheScienceBiome]

Me: Reads Title Also me: *gulps palpably*

[@cageybee7221]

with the amount we spend on lead pipe lining minerals in water, and on medical bills when that fails (or taxes in civilized countries), we could afford to replace the pipes. we should replace the pipes. not only would replacing the pipes save lives and money in the long run it would also give people jobs for years which is what we really need right now.

[@billybobjoe198]

I don't think you have any idea the scale of replacing centuries of buried infrastructure. For a ball park, it would cost around 3 trillion dollars to replace the supplies from the street for every home in America. The mains, which run almost exclusively under roads, and sometimes buildings, are far more costly per foot to replace. It could easily get into the hundreds of trillions of dollars. I'm fine. You're fine. Our parents were fine. Their parents were fine. We'll be okay doing things sensibly. This isn't an emergency. Also fun fact, antimony, the main lead substitute, has identical poisoning symptoms to lead. Kind of like fiberglass doing exactly what asbestos does. We spend untold trillions freaking out about nonissues, only to often time makes things the same, or sometimes worse.

[@bcubed72]

Go to Gulag, commie. Lead has been used safely for millennia, by people who aren't complete and utter idiots. It's only when you have incompetent dumbasses running things, that you have problems.(So I can understand why a commie would have problems...in Communism, incompetent dumbasses are ALWAYS running things!) P.S. If you're the sort who thinks that "pH" stands for "Pizza Hut"...you probably shouldn't be running a public water works. Save the patronage jobs for people who draw a paycheck and spend all day banging the secretary...less chance of hurting someone that way!

[@Magmafrost13]

@@bcubed72 Yeah Flint Michigan sure is communist...

[@LegoCookieDoggie]

That's why western philosophy is doomed we only look out for ourselves were all going to have lead in our bellies consequences to action or lack of action

[@chiblast100x]

We are replacing the pipes. The only difference is we're doing it piecemeal over around a hundred years or so, that is the absolute effect of a ban on placing new lead pipe. Were we to try to perform an all at once upgrade (and lets ignore the immediate costs of labor, materials and equipment here) we'd still be spending a 20 to 30 year period disrupting critical infrastructure such as roads and water supply to all homes, businesses and municipal buildings in a rolling wave.

[@RunzPwnz]

What a cheery explanation for something so deadly.

[@geekjokes8458]

can filtering, specially "post-faucet" reduce the lead amount? i know, it isnt *everyones* responsibility to buy a filter a care only about themselves, but its a start also, what would we replace our pipes with?

[@87mits]

Plastic. Don't know about the filtering, it's probably lead ions. You could use a form of ion exchange. Or you could make it form insoluble salts and filter those. Both those solutions rely on something that runs out.

[@Pheatrix]

@@87mits Plastic is not necessarily the best option as it does not protect against permeation. It pretty much doesn't matter what we use, it will be the wrong choice anyway. www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/permeationandleaching.pdf

[@MGSLurmey]

@@Pheatrix What about steel? We use it literally everywhere else in construction, why not pipes too? Manufacturing technologies have come a long way so the ductility of lead is nowhere near as much of an advantage over steel anymore. We can make stainless steel so it doesn't rust due to the water, and it would last significantly longer than almost any other material (bar perhaps titanium or tungsten). It should be perfectly safe for the water, considering we use stainless steel to eat and cook with every day, and it could even be buried in concrete to protect against loose joints and thus leaks, since the thermal expansion rate of steel is so close to that of concrete. The only disadvantage I can think of is cost, but spread across a long enough timespan and the cost is a non-issue. Better to slowly replace all the lead pipes than never replace them, right?

[@Pheatrix]

@@MGSLurmey Stainless steel contains chrome to prevent corrosion. And chrome is toxic. Water gets contaminated when in contact with stainless steel. This takes a long time in order to get to high levels but it might be a problem if you replace all of the piping? I'm not really an expert on this. But there is another issue: Many countries chlorinate their water to make sure it is bacteria free. And stainless steel can rust in such conditions. And this rust accelerates the growth of bacteria. www.researchgate.net/publication/238769394_Unexpected_corrosion_of_stainless_steel_in_low_chloride_waters_-_microbial_aspects

[@archmad]

Maybe use gold

[@marlonvalckenborgh8689]

Maybe an important thing to mention as well: If it's time to replace lead, what do we use instead? The animation seems to suggest gold? That would be expensive.

[@SleepyPanda-co3iy]

use water filters in taps surely help.

[@loganwolv3393]

After carefully examening the video it seems to be ceramic, still lasts 50 years and i've never heared of it being harmful to us ever, i even did a quick google search and yeah it seems to be safe and definently not as expensive as gold, but then again still wayy more expensive than lead and i think harder to mine.

[@skyvenrazgriz8226]

Isnt lead poisoning in young ppl causing harm to developing cognitiv functions? If so, there you have your answer for the US, keeping them stupid is excatly what the gov like, just combine it with the US education system and you get what you deserve...

[@lintangprabowo8844]

Cool, us should maintain that system

[@darkbobblackpants9747]

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “Eat lead”

[@Wyvernnnn]

So what metal do we use for pipes now? Brass?

[@YonasBonas]

mainly iron, steel, plastic or copper, some brass in fittings and stuff.

[@jaimepujol5507]

Lovely to see this video when my apartment building is replacing its asbestos piping and lead plumbing

[@guillermojrboy3292]

0:52 And I thought plumbing came from the word "plumbus". 😢

[@mencibenci]

Guillermo Jr Boy EVERYONE HAS A PLUMBUS IN THEIR HOME.

[@krissp8712]

Plumbum is Latin for lead anyway?

[@87mits]

@@krissp8712 it's a Rick & Morty reference...

[@decidiousrex]

@@mencibenci So true. I wonder how they're made though

[@briangarrow448]

I've worked in the water and wastewater treatment industries for over 40 years. Everywhere I have worked has a standard of removing lead from systems whenever it is found.

[@myopinionsarefacts]

It's kinda interesting how things aren't problems until they kill you

[@daedra40]

Truly an existential realization.

[@ADAJ342]

Technically they arent *your* problem after that

[@jasondashney]

Like speeding, alcohol, cheeseburgers, pretty much everything around us.

[@Providence83]

Are they really even problems if they _do_ kill you?

[@jehiahmaduro6827]

Its called quite literally "the tombstone effect"

[@abrumm87]

@MinuteEarth small but important correction: Flint wasn’t caused by the lack of adding something. A new, more acidic source of water cause the solubilization of the protection lead carbonate layer, this exposing the lead. Albeit, one could argue that a neutralizing agent (carbonate) wasn’t added, and I’m quite possibly making too fine of a point, but I just thought I would add a slight clarification

[@multigamerinfinite]

"Plumb" means lead in romanian

[@ethanfoo9154]

FMultiGamerInfinite because Romanian is a latin language?

[@英語わかりません]

And "plomo" in spanish

[@cosmopoiesecriandomundos7446]

@@ethanfoo9154 Yeah, but that's not a cognate in all of them. In Portuguese it's called "chumbo", not at all similar.

[@FrogsOfTheSea]

A arte de criar mundos but chumbos does derive from plumbum, and therefore is technically cognate

[@rscervin9950]

Corect,si totuși noi nu cred ca folosim țevi de plumb in orașe

[@DemitriVladMaximov]

Wasn't the issue with Flint that they also switched which processing plant was handling their water supply and the cleaning agents they used at the new location actively broke down the mineral build-up in the pipes?

[@smurfyday]

Money corrupts, just like power. No, I don't mean tends to.

[@ataarono]

No poor and powerless people are just as corrupted. Tho they don't have the means of showing it to the world so you might think they aren't corrupted. If you want to run a successful business you need to be more trustable than your average pleb and so the rich are actually a more positive tip of the huge iceberg that is human corruption.

[@max05z4]

Soo what matereal for pluming now

[@SciFactsYT118]

Random fact: Out of the 400 species of parrots, there is only one that can’t fly, called the Kakapo parrot.

[@HuevoBendito]

Makes sense given that the species evolved in New Zealand.

[@LyntzbartzkyPerez]

And it’s almost extinct because of the invasive ferrets they put on the island to eat another invasive species Big oof

[@gewoonik687]

It was already in decline when we introduced rats. The ferret where an attempt to fix it. Turned out that fat non flying parrots are easier to catch than rats.

[@birdydraws5685]

Thanks for this interesting bird fact^^

[@Menelutorex]

random and pointless....

[@atibamaule]

That's why I use the E-Spring water purifier.

[@Mormodes]

This video is so dark, but with such an upbeat tone. Businesses that purposefully lobby against the best interests of people just to save their company should have the company shut down and the leaders of it charged for murder.

[@tubegerm6732]

!?!?!

[@TheFuturistTom]

I've been watching Minute Earth for years. I liked their videos. That is why I decided to create my own sci-fi/futurist Channel. 👍🙂

[@aleksitjvladica.]

I am interested.

[@Doublemonk0506]

@@aleksitjvladica., and so am I

[@aleksitjvladica.]

Thank you. > @@Doublemonk0506

[@rossplendent]

At 1:44, you show Baltimore with non-lead plumbing, yet lead poisoning is a serious concern here, to the point where scientists have been able to track the strong correlation between lead blood levels and crime. Lead poisoning causes learning disorders, emotional instability, and leads to poor mental health outcomes, and it is destroying our city.

[@EnterTheBunker]

This is why I'm always paranoid about drinking tap water!!!

[@bbq1423]

Does this mean that Americans realized that led paint made the children dumb, but that drinking led wouldn’t be as bad?

[@PlasmicDynamite]

No, it’s just really easy to stop selling lead paint but it’s a lot harder to eliminate all existing infrastructure in favor of lead free materials.

[@samuelmatheson9655]

You think maybe that's why people are so dumb

[@666Tomato666]

@@PlasmicDynamite oh, I'm sorry, I thought that it was "the best nation on earth", it turns out it was always a third world nation wearing a Gucci belt

[@David_Last_Name]

@@666Tomato666 America IS the best nation on Earth....right up until it costs money to fix a problem and then nobody will cry harder about how they cant afford it then Americans.

[@sfsmrspacepizza2737]

Junior Ivarsson well that now why the children is dumb because they don’t even teach them anything and there parents is just watching Facebook or KZbin

[@eineriglos7669]

Finally a new video, not a a compilation.

[@lukasnovella9001]

The government: if they get poisoned, they get poisoned. Now... what kind of Yacht should I buy?

[@thomasdahl3083]

Buy the sailboat you can afford.

[@moritamikamikara3879]

REEEEEEEEE GET OUT GOVERNMENT REEEEEEEE!!!

[@bananya6020]

to be fair presidents / pm's actually make a surprisingly little amount of money in most countries compared to how highly they're regarded.

[@lukasnovella9001]

bananya It was less “The President Makes too much money” and more “If you have the resources to become president, you are more then likely WAY richer then you should be” (I live in America so, well, you know”

[@bananya6020]

@@lukasnovella9001 i was writing to the comment directly but yeah every political figure makes a surprisingly large (and/or small, depending on context) amount of money for how much bullshitting they all do

[@boblangill6209]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Cosmos series included an extensive look at how the lead industry acquired an MD to be a spokesman to promote the idea that lead levels were just a natural aspect of normal human bodies. According to their medical shill, there was no need to limit its use in fuel, toys, paints or anything else.

[@coreytaylor447]

I wonder if lead poisoning can cause mental health problems like borderline personality disorder because that would explain a lot in america

[@roxasparks]

Do some research

[@benalor1973]

Personality disorder was not listed for what lead can cause for mental illness but it can in fact due brain damage however it must be in insane amounts for it to happen.

[@FinnManusia]

Ever heard of boiling the water before drink it or Water Dispenser or Water Purifier? In my country, we did that.

[@oswald7597]

You could say this lead to some problems

[@fee8738]

*probably the cause of people’s hydrophobia when they got poisoned a bit*

[@Detahramet]

Lead would be such an amazing material if it weren't poisonous. It makes fuel higher octane and thus can be used more efficiently, it makes great paint, its a no-calorie sweetener, it makes great plumbing, its super maleable, and of course it will kill.

[@PlasmicDynamite]

deathtamer666 Honestly, these days it would only be a hinderance to have on modern plumbing systems.

[@praseosdidymos8152]

Also Lead zirconium titanate has a strong piezoelectric effect and is used for instance in pressure sensors and vibrators in mobiles for instance

[@victorillo377]

But should do we use instead of lead ?

[@theluminousone5883]

Isnt flint still polluted?

[@Cadwaladr]

The government says it isn't, but a lot of people, understandably, don't trust them.

[@ballpython3310]

shouldn't be, they switched back to the water that was making the scaling. Right?

[@cornwalldonnahue6512]

Cadwaladr i live here. The water is fine the only problem is the older houses and pipes that have not been replaced. When you drive around you still see tons of bottled water just sitting around unused

[@3liospizza]

Great video...wondering which country to move to that doesn't use lead pipes

[@aycc-nbh7289]

But that shouldn’t be the only reason to move to a particular country.

[@buttercupkat]

Parents: Tap water isn't that bad! Me: *Shows them this video* Parents: I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that.

[@Freddy-dj9pk]

Well it probably isn't depending on where you live. Look up local testing results or let your water get tested.

[@ChasmChaos]

This is the civil engineering example of a core software engineering problem. Replacing existing infrastructure/code with the objectively better alternative is much harder than it seems, even though the benefits are obvious. So what ends up happening? Shortcut solutions, similar to putting in minerals to form a layer on the inside of pipes.

[@TimB.1998]

Love that cost & practicality was valued over human life & safety

[@reeceoshaney5971]

A bout a year ago I went to Duluth MN and the hotel I was at had a pipe burst and the water above level 8 or so had lead poisoning

[@TheScienceBiome]

*Nooooo* MinuteEarth at 0:17 you missed the opportunity to use the Minecraft Achievement!!!

[@thekrackenx]

Bro I saw like 5 of your comments already, how much are you commenting?

[@catiusfoodus]

Oh fancy seeing you here, btw love the videos...

[@fayhay8011]

How about tough plastic pipe?Seems like a good idea,microplastic happen when exposed to sunlight or heat.

[@Owen_loves_Butters]

It’s not just about the cost and difficulty, it’s about the inconvenience of replacing all plumbing in the world

[@Mintews]

As an uruguayan i did not know we banned it so late! Im surprised

[@bbqtong148]

0:46, wooden pipes are a thing!?!

[@MorgurEdits]

was in sewers at least.

[@gewoonik687]

It was in ancient times use in rocky area's where the ground was to hard to dig in gutter like systems. In Asia a lot of water still reaches people by bamboo. However I am not sure if this is still a thing in modern city sewersystems.

[@dancepiglover]

gewoon ik God, I hope not! Porous wood holding sewage?! Yuck!

[@PlasmicDynamite]

dancepiglover They had them underground, it’s okay.

[@absalomdraconis]

@@dancepiglover : As long as the pipe is buried, a very small trickle of sewage leaking into any particular patch of ground isn't a problem. Soil organisms will actually process it. The problem comes when it's on the _surface,_ or roots cause a pipe blockage, or there's a large amount.

[@sethfurno]

The disaster in flint Michigan was actually caused by too much chlorine added to the water. It didn't just erode the protective layer. The pipes themselves were rusted by the concentration. Turning the water brown in some homes (due to cast iron street pipes).

[@tntg5]

That voice though 🥶

[@norratornt7066]

Shoutout to places where tap water is undrinkable and literally poison regardless of plumbing.

[@dshcfh]

@MinuteEarth Call out specific politicians by name or get used to aimlessly complaining to the void.

[@karymegama5945]

i remember learning that people used to serve tomatoes on lead plates and people though that tomatoes were poisonous and a chef attempted to assassinate George Washington by putting a tomato in his soup but was confused when it didn't work.

[@crusador84]

This explains a lot about the US

[@AnnCatsanndra]

I thought sponsored videos had to be disclosed at the start of the video for legal compliance? Or does that only apply to videos that are ads?

[@emielverbeeren8181]

It might be like that in the UK, but this is an American channel right?

[@bairfamilyfarm1336]

Odd, our ceramic pipe from the cistern to the well pump is still holding after 150 years. 80 percent of home in the nearby city still use lead, we've tested water for concerned customers and both test kits from the supply house (liquid dropper kit) and home depot (paper strips) show no lead. A little lead really doesn't hurt anyway, just like floride in your toothpaste. Which by the way, Floride is what doctors use to cure somebody who has lead poisioning.

[@05Matz]

Thank you for helping explain this to people.

[@Kyrus86]

Wasn't lead linked to higher aggressiveness as well? Are there studies about the usage of lead pipes and violence in countries?

[@garret1930]

I'm going to sound facetious, but you have access to something really cool called Google scholar. Just look up your question and you'll find loads of scientific papers written on basically whatever you're interested in. Many of the actual papers are behind paywalls so if you _really_ want to read the paper you can copy the doi and paste it into a website called sci-hub Boom: you now have free access to almost the entire repository of human scientific research.

[@desmondbaptiste861]

So what would be an ideal replacement for lead?

[@user-yl4hb8dg9l]

the ammount of puns in this video makes me want to jam a lead pipe through my head. Nice informative video though! keep up the good work!

[@sillyjobbernowl]

What's the ideal replacement? It wasn't mentioned in the video as it should've.

[@TheScienceBiome]

Listening to this just made 2020 a lot worse

[@derfdot]

This is quite the Leading discovery!

[@vulpinecatastrophe9377]

Me upon seeing the title as someone who drinks tap water everyday: I’m sorry we WHAT

[@shalomsam5362]

Can't we add some kind of protective layer inside the lead pipe ?

[@randomguy263]

0:21 That guy kinda look like an old version of my chemistry teacher.

[@coolmasterx5707]

What is the alternative to lead pipes though?

[@ShankarSivarajan]

1:48 Yay Baltimore!

[@bendoverson4738]

So what can we use instead?