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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Clean Sampling and Analysis of River and Estuarine Waters for Trace Metal Studies
Published on: July 1, 2016
Source and occurrence of particulate lead in tap water
Elise Deshommes1, Laurent Laroche, Shokoufeh Nour
1NSERC Industrial Chair on Drinking Water, Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering Dept., CP 6079, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec H3C3A7, Canada. elise.deshommes@polymtl.ca
Abstract:
Lead samples were collected at the tap from homes with lead service lines (LSLs) in a full-scale utility using both random daytime (RDT) and particulate stimulation sampling (PSS) protocols. Analysis of the results revealed two sources and occurrences of particulate lead. A first source is due to corrosion of lead-bearing elements in the premise plumbing (PP) and occurs mostly at low to moderate concentrations < 3 microg/L, with some sporadic higher concentrations (4-12 microg/L). These spikes were consistently observed and considerably increased using PSS, showing that current sampling protocols may miss a significant portion of particulate lead. The second source results from the adsorption of dissolved lead onto iron deposits in LSL/PP, and is continuously present at low to moderate concentrations. Statistical analyses were validated by physical analyses of: (i) lead scales from LSLs; and (ii) lead particles from tap aerators.
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