Legit question, whose money was used to install the lead pipes in the first place? Was it not the taxpayers?
So, we made the decisions to install lead pipes before we started using lead pipes. Darn, there goes that excuse.
I’m just kidding, we probably just didn’t know it was harmful yet. Hopefully.
My understanding is essentially all of the lead pipes still in use in the US are from the water meter to the building, that is, the property owner’s responsibility. That is why they are still there. The water utilities replaced the lead in their system decades ago as part of upgrades and expansions to the system. The ones that are still there were installed using the property owner’s (or contractor’s) money.
The big problem is rental properties. The inhabitants cannot afford (and shouldn’t have the responsibility) to replace the line from the meter to the house. The landlords insist there isn’t a problem, and have water analyses to prove it. Landlords claim they shouldn’t have to pay to replace perfectly acceptable plumbing. Honestly, if the water chemistry is controlled properly, lead pipes don’t pose a problem.
Of course, water chemistry can change. Water board positions are often political appointees, where knowledge of water chemistry isn’t as important as knowledge of the location of certain bodies.
At its base, the question is: does the good that getting rid of lead pipes will bring outweigh the cost and disruption of removing them? I say yes, but that’s obviously the crux of the matter IMHO.
That’s not quite right. I don’t think Republican opposition comes from doing a cost/benefit analysis. I think it comes from an ideological position - namely, that Government doesn’t belong doing stuff like this.
Republicans may agree that the benefits outweigh the cost, but counter that it isn’t the government’s responsibility to replace these pipes.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that my question was what Republicans were thinking, I more meant at the base of the question about replacing pipes at all.
Well yeah, who else?
Thank you. Good to know.
IIRC, the Romans knew that lead was bad.
But lead is cheap, and Real AmericansTM got their water from wells anyway.
More than that, they’re pushing against having the government set limits, particularly setting limits lower than they are now, on “safe” levels of lead in drinking water.
Most medical experts would put that level at flat 0, but what do they know about human health? It should be up to local or state government, definitely not something set by a national body. Or if even the locals set levels at 0, then the decision should be taken out of their hands, because they clearly don’t know what they’re doing /s
I doubt this. The Romans are the ones we got our idea of using lead pipes to transfer water from. They also used lead vessels and lead-soldered vessels for boilinmg down wine. Some people claimed that they did this deliberately to generate lead acetate (AKA “sugar of lead”, because of its flavor) to use as a sweetener, but there’s no direct evidence of this.
In fact, an awful lot of people used lead to repair broken vessels and (in the form of eutectic solder) to put vessekls together.
There was some thought about lead being dangerous in Roman times (Vitruvius said that earthenware vesels and pipes were healthier), but not enough to make them change their ways. People apparently forgot the dangers until the late middle ages, but people were still deliberately using lead still and adding lead to beverages until the 18th century and later. See the Wikipedia article on Lead Poisoning
Sure, if you look at the subject rationally and with a utilitarian viewpoint.
But thats nowhere near the quality of debate we get now. Now, we get “Lead isnt so bad” and “libs want to do it, so it must be bad” reactionary bullshit. And the media laps it up and spreads it around, because it brings in views.
More than that it’s something Biden is in favor of, therefore it must be pure evil.
But you have to report “both sides” equally!!1!!
Lead isn’t so bad for you vs purity of essence!
This. I would not be surprised if Trumpies start advertising pills with lead in them, because “Biden wants to deprive you of this vital nutrient.”
Plumbi obduro essentia
Yeah, how are we going to turn it into gold as a lucrative symbol of our own purification by the alchemyst’s fire, huh?
please try to frame your questions in ways that employ legitimate premises
I am so glad I introduced that “lead loving republican” bit. I was going to apologize for it but it’s taken on a life of its own.
I just ran into a new Trump scam that made my head spin and made me wonder if I’ve overestimated the intelligence of the average Trump supporter.
First, a little background. There is an imaginary thing called a MedBed that some QANON types think might be a thing someday, after the aliens land or something. But it’s a fictional medical device that cures everything.
Here is a website about MedBeds, one that is extraordinarily honest for a crazy wannabe scammer site, because it admits that MedBeds are not yet widely available on this planet. The authors of this site admit that they are trying to draw the attention of other dimensional light beings who might have insights into the MedBed technology, and they are candid about admitting that the aliens haven’t looped them in……yet.
I have my suspicions that if I signed up on the site the MedBeds might become available, albeit with a steep price tag……although I might just end up on a mailing list of extraordinarily stupid people….but that’s not the scam.
Enter the Trump MedBed card.
The Trump MedBed card is a stylish black and gold plastic card you can carry in your wallet that has the words Trump MedBed printed on it. It also has an attractive logo, a shadowy picture of Trump and a scribble that bears a resemblance to Trump’s distinctive signature.
The seller assures us that the card is made of very high quality plastic, and it’s on sale at 50% off….for $599. Or, if you want to buy them for everyone on your gift list, you can get 20 of them at the bulk price $4999.
The website makes it clear, in light gray print at bottom of the page, that the cards are “memorabilia only”. This apparently lends enough legitimacy to the scam that they are allowed to use a payment processor that’s legitimate enough to take PayPal and Apple Pay.
However, the testimonials refer to miracle cures and treatment centers, which leads me to believe that the people buying these cards believe that they either contain healing magic or allow them to access healing magic.
I guess now we know what the 2025 version of Trump’s health care plan will be.