Lead and copper in drinking water fountains--information for physicians.

Background: Lead and copper are potentially toxic metals. The objective of our work was to test the water from the drinking fountains of a large public access office complex in southwest Houston, Texas, for the presence of lead, copper, and microbiologic contamination. The data for the water fountains were compared with what we found in the local municipal drinking water supplies.
Methods: Samples were collected as the first draw at the beginning of the work week. These samples were acidified to prevent the precipitation of heavy metals and analyzed using United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) approved procedures and quality control.
Results: Traces of lead were detected in 37.5% and copper in 100% of the tested water fountains. In two buildings, concentrations in some fountains exceeded the USEPA action level for lead (by up to 12-fold) and for copper (by up to 3.9 fold). One sample was positive for total coliform and Escherichia coli bacteria. Comparison with samples from the local municipal drinking water supplies indicated that both metals and bacteria were the result of secondary contamination at the water fountain sites.
Conclusions: This study showed that drinking water fountains can be an unexpected and unappreciated source of intake of metal and bacterial contaminants.