Copper is a naturally occurring metal found in rock, soil, sediment, and groundwater.
Pure copper is a red-orange color, but it turns blue-green when exposed to water and air.
In small doses, copper is an important nutrient to optimal human health.
However, you don’t want too much of it because it can cause some nasty side effects, but more on that in a sec…
How Does Copper Get Into Tap Water?
Copper can enter drinking water from several sources, but the main one is corroded pipes in household plumbing and the distribution lines delivering water in your city.
Copper is used in lots of faucets and water fixtures too.
Over time, water absorbs copper from the inner lining of plumbing materials.
The amount of copper in your water typically depends on the amount of copper in your pipes, as well as water temperature and acidity.
The hotter and more acidic the water is, the faster the plumbing parts will corrode and leach copper into the system.
In some cases, high levels of copper turn the water a blue-green color.
However, this usually only happens in newer homes.
When copper is present at high levels, you might also notice a strong metallic taste, or even staining of your laundry and plumbing fixtures.
Health Effects of Copper In Tap Water
What happens when you consume too much copper in tap water?
Like we mentioned earlier, a small amount of copper is actually good for you.
In fact, the Food and Drug Administration recommends consuming about 2 mg of copper a day.
However, it’s very easy to get too much copper because the body only needs such a tiny amount.
However, elevated levels of copper for 14 days or more can lead to permanent kidney and liver damage, especially in infants under the age of one.
Luckily, healthy adults are pretty good at preventing high levels of copper from entering the bloodstream, and they naturally remove excess copper after just a few days.
Individuals with Wilson’s and Menke’s disease, on the other hand, are at a higher risk because they struggle with copper metabolism.
Copper and Lead: Two Peas In a Pod
When it comes to copper in tap water, another contaminant often likes to join the party: lead.
Depending on the age of your home, if you have copper in your water there’s a good chance you might have lead too.
That’s because in homes built before 1986, lead plumbing components and lead service lines were still quite common.
Lead is a heavy metal that can be extremely harmful to human health, even at low levels.
How toxic is lead, exactly?
Lead is stored in the bones and passes onto the fetus in pregnant women, which can lead to premature birth and reduced growth of the fetus.
In all humans, chronic exposure can increase the risk of kidney and liver damage and cancer.
Regulations on Copper In Tap Water
Unlike lead, low levels of copper are allowed in tap water.
Water systems also have to take steps to reduce pipe corrosion, which is why many cities add phosphate to their water.
How Do I Know If There Is Copper In My Drinking Water?
The most obvious tell-tale sign that you have too much copper in your tap water is if it turns a blue-green color, but is typically only in new homes.
In most cases, the only way to know if there’s high levels of copper is to send a sample to a state-certified lab.
Steps to Reduce Your Exposure to Copper In Tap Water
How can you reduce the risk of exposure to copper in tap water?
Well, besides installing a filter, which we’ll talk about in a sec, you take the following steps:
- Flush pipes before drinking or cooking with your water. Water that’s been sitting in the pipes for awhile without running is more likely to have higher concentrations of copper.
- Only use cold water for drinking and cooking. Hot water is more likely to contain higher levels of copper.
- Do not boil water to try and remove copper. Boiling does not reduce copper in tap water.
Other than that, by far the best way to protect you and your family from excess copper is to install a filtration system in your home.
Reverse osmosis (RO) filters can remove up to 99.9% of harmful contaminants, including lead and copper.
Cloud Water Filters also use built-in software to track and monitor your water quality 24/7 through an app on your phone.
