The standard for the amount of lead in drinking water will be lowered in 2022. Now the safe standard is 10 micrograms per liter. On the advice of the Health Council, the cabinet is making 5 micrograms of this. These and other measures are contained in a letter from Ministers Ollongren, Van Nieuwenhuizen and Van Rijn to the House of Representatives.
The ministers respond to one advice of the Health Council from late last year. It states that lead in pipes is more harmful to health than previously thought. For example, lead in young children can lead to a lower IQ and in adults it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. The Health Council made all kinds of recommendations, such as the remediation of the remaining pipes.
Lead water pipes have been banned since 1960, and it is estimated that there are still between 100,000 and 200,000 homes whose pipes have not been replaced. Recently, several municipalities have set up extensive programs to completely eliminate lead pipes.
Uniform communication
The government acknowledges that for a time little attention was paid to the presence of lead pipes in buildings dating from before 1960 and that many people wrongly thought that the problem had already been solved. The ministers have recently consulted with various parties. According to the cabinet, there is too little clarity in the communication about, for example, age limits, flushing advice and research methods. That is now being improved and all kinds of agreements have been made about the new approach.
One of the options proposed by the Health Council was a notification obligation to notify new buyers or tenants of the presence of lead. The cabinet has asked umbrella organizations to include this in model agreements. In practice, this usually already happens with purchase.
Housing corporations
Aedes, the umbrella organization of housing corporations, is examining whether such a clause is included in the model contract, but emphasizes that if there is any doubt whether lead pipes have already been remediated, a tenant is usually already informed of this.
Landlords have once again been called upon to locate and remove lead pipes. Aedes strives to remove the lead pipes that are still present from social rental homes.
Owners and residents of buildings before 1960 will be informed about the health risks of lead in tap water. GGDs will also check for lead during inspections of schools and childcare centers.
The Cabinet does not intend to introduce a new subsidy scheme. There was one earlier and the Health Council also named it as an option.
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