Ask Marylin: Am I wasting time and water running the tap for a while before I drink from it, especially at the start of the day?
By: Marilyn vos Savant

No. We all need to manage our use of household water so we ingest as little lead as possible.

Lead is rarely found in rivers and other sources of water. It gets into the supply after water leaves the local treatment plants and travels through public water-service lines and household plumbing. These conduits commonly contain lead. The EPA cites home plumbing as the most likely culprit. Even so-called “lead-free” plumbing may contain up to 8% lead.

To reduce the lead in your drinking water: 1) flush pipes before drinking by running the water until it gets as cold as possible; and 2) use only cold water for consumption. Never use hot water from the tap. For example, don’t run hot water to save time when you want to boil water for pasta. Hot water from the tap has the most lead. When you need hot water, take cold tap water and heat it.

To reduce waste, shower or bathe first, which starts the flushing process for your home. Then run the tap you’re going to use for drinking water for a minute and fill a pitcher for the day.