It is one of the World Health Organisation’s top 10 chemicals of public health concern and was recently confirmed as irreversibly impacting the neurological development of children, event at relatively low level.
Yes “lead is the single chemical with by far the largest quantified health effects globally”.
Change is coming in Australia. By May 2025, all copper alloy products in contact with drinking water will need to comply with the updated National Building Code. Clause A5G4 of NCC 2022 Volume Three (Plumbing Code of Australia) specifies that copper alloy plumbing products in contact with drinking water must limit the allowable lead content to a weighted average lead content of not more than 0.25%.
Under the current WaterMark scheme, approximately 335 licenses will be impacted by this change. And within those, hundreds of products must be tested/retested to comply with the new requirements. According to the Australian Building Codes Board, up to 90% of the testing can be done through the screening path – using portable XRF equipment, familiar to those with such equipment.
This represents an opportunity for accredited NDT facilities that are already using portable XRF equipment.
Gary Rake, ABCB CEO, commented that:
“Verification of the lead content will require a test report provided by a NATA accredited testing laboratory. Based on available data from WMCABs it is estimated approximately 335 WaterMark licences will require testing compliant with NSF/ANSI/CAN 372:2020 in Australia. The number of products listed on a WaterMark licence may range from 1 to 100 or more.”
Many NDT facilities have staff who visit client sites for testing procedures, and many already have portable XRF comparative screening on their scopes. If your facility is interested in extending your scope by desktop variation to support the NCC changes, please contact your NATA Client Coordinator, who will assist you with the process.
For more information, please visit the WaterMark website.
