Time flies when you are having fun. 3 years ago, we did a blog on BRING THE INDOORS, OUTDOORS, WITH 316 MARINE GRADE STAINLESS STEEL TAPWARE & SHOWERS and so much has happened since then.
The main change is the introduction to the Australian market of LEAD FREE TAPWARE and the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) decision to limit the allowable lead content in plumbing products, which contain copper alloys and are intended for use in contact with drinking water, to be a weighted at an average lead content of not more than 0.25%. Now the confusing thing is that a decision has been made to allow importers and retailers to call this tapware LEAD FREE which is an oxymoron if you ask me. It is either LEAD FREE or it isn’t and this new regulation, comes into effect 1st of September 2025 so there will be a lot of activity in the market as brands jockey for position and spruik their allegedly LEAD FREE tapware. What does this have to do with High Grade 316 Stainless Steel tapware? Well, it is the only real tapware that has zero lead content making it a healthy solution for your family and home environment and is very versatile as it suits both indoor & outdoor applications.
What makes 316 Stainless Steel tapware LEAD FREE? It all comes down to the Brass used in the tapware that is currently in your home. 316 Stainless Steel tapware does not contain any Brass.
The range of options are not just restricted to tapware. There are options now available for showers, robe hooks , towel rails and even the kitchen sink so if you are thinking of Alfresco BBQ or quality 316 Stainless Steel products indoors then look no further than the range available from Designer Bathrooms Plus.
MEIR OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE RANGE
With zero lead content, designed with health in mind and manufactured to ensure outstanding water purification, the Outdoor Lifestyle range guarantees safer water delivery using the highest grade 316 stainless steel quality, ensuring that the Outdoor Lifestyle range is lead-safe compliant, clean for drinking and handwashing in your alfresco kitchen and or outdoor shower.
Not only is the Lifestyle range safe for you and your family to use, but it is also eco-friendly, making it kind to Mother Nature with a carbon-neutral finish.
FUN FACTS ABOUT LEAD & YOUR TAPWARE:
Source Lakula.com.au
If our bodies are unable to excrete lead through urine or faeces, it gets distributed to our heart, brain, liver, bones, and kidneys.
Under sink water filtration units do not eliminate all LEAD in the water as it needs to pass thru the tapware itself after the filter which is usually made from Brass which does contain lead.
Lead absorption can cause:
- Impaired brain development (reduced IQ), especially in infants and children.
- High blood pressure (hypertension).
- Kidney damage/renal impairment.
- Toxicity to testicular tissue and functions/male infertility.
- Reduced attention span and increased anti-social behaviour.
- Immunotoxicity.
- Miscarriage, low birth weight, premature birth or still birth if the mother has had a high exposure to lead.
Boiling water does NOT remove lead.
Lead is still being used to manufacture a range of plumbing products, including that fancy brass tapware in your kitchen.
You cannot taste, see, or smell lead in your drinking water.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (2023), our skin will not absorb lead from water in the shower.
Australians have been drinking LEAD in their water system for hundreds of years.
Lead is one of the oldest metals known to humans and has been since at least 5000 BC. Lead pipes, water tanks, coins and weights for fishing nets were used in ancient Egypt and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were floored with soldered sheets of lead. The Romans had an elaborate water distribution system of lead aqueducts. Roman baths in Bath, England, were lined with lead and fed by lead pipes from hot mineral springs.
