On January 12 of this year, the deadline under the German Drinking Water Ordinance expired for removing or decommissioning lead drinking water pipes from existing buildings.
Since then, we have been flooded with inquiries from private homeowners and amateur landlords asking whether we can quickly carry out lead testing. With a heavy heart, we often have to refer them to our cooperating partner laboratories, as our business model does not allow us to process individual orders involving travel time.
Nevertheless, we have taken this “flood of requests” as an opportunity to launch a product for our existing customers: random sampling for lead (Z samples) with an anniversary discount.

Under Section 17 (1) of the Drinking Water Ordinance, which entered into force in June 2023, the operator of a water supply system in which drinking water pipes or sections of drinking water pipes made of lead are present must remove or decommission these pipes or sections by the end of January 12, 2026, in accordance with the generally accepted rules of technology.

For non-concealed pipes, a scratch test is a suitable option, as lead is a very soft material. However, pipes are often concealed, meaning that this kind of simple inspection is not possible. In addition, the limit value for lead is so low that even individual pipe sections that were not properly removed during renovation or conversion work can cause the limit value to be exceeded.

It is therefore advisable to have a so-called random sample, or Z sample, tested for lead. This provides a fast and reliable result. If the limit value is exceeded, a so-called staggered stagnation sample — S0, S1, S2 — can usually be used to determine, based on the interaction of the different test results, whether the lead is being introduced by the water supplier or is present in the building’s internal installation.

Since missing the deadline may be punishable by a fine, and since applications for extensions by the health authorities are expected to be handled restrictively — at least for the professional real estate sector — meaning that in cases of doubt they are more likely to be rejected than approved, we have decided to offer Z samples to our existing customers and business partners from this year onward. We intend to carry these out en passant as part of our routine microbiological sampling for Legionella.

The advantage for our customers is that our usual travel flat rate of EUR 39.50 does not apply in this case.As we are now in the 15th year of our company’s history, we are granting all interested parties a 15 percent discount on our base price according to our standard price list.

Our Sales Manager, Thorsten Kasten, will be happy to provide further information about this new offer, preferably by phone at 0162-2000 609.