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Chicago has the most lead pipes in the nation

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102 points Brajeshwar | 4 comments | 31 Aug 25 01:27 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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SilverElfin ◴[31 Aug 25 02:08 UTC] No.45079701[source]▶
I wonder what the accuracy of the data is like. And what do you do about damaged pipes? I read that cities lose a lot of water to leaks. Doesn’t that also mean pollutants can get in? And it won’t matter if your pipe is lead or whatever else.

An aside: lead exposure is thought to lead to increase violence. I wonder if Chicago having the most lead pipes is also a contributing cause of their (reputed) crime problem.

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1. qinsig ◴[03 Sep 25 03:13 UTC] No.45111908[source]▶
Pollutants don't get in because water pipes are pressurized
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2. djtriptych ◴[03 Sep 25 03:18 UTC] No.45111936[source]▶
isn't this only true if they are always pressurized?
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3. SkyPuncher ◴[03 Sep 25 03:18 UTC] No.45111937[source]▶
Absolutely not true. Pollutants don’t get into the lines because there are decades of mineral deposits built up inside these pipes.
4. frosted-flakes ◴[03 Sep 25 03:47 UTC] No.45112092[source]▶
They are always pressurised during normal use. When they are depressurised because of a water main break or for maintenance (and they try to do this as little as possible), orders are given to flush the lines before drinking any of the water.