Fears persist over Aldi tap found to contaminate water with high amounts of lead

WHILE Aldi says a new test proves its tap isn’t a lead-poisoning risk, the authority that raised the alarm still has safety concerns but can’t say so publicly due to a legal threat.

The Aldi tap found to contaminate water with 15 times the allowable level of lead. Picture: Supplied

EXCLUSIVE

WHILE Aldi has declared the tap at the centre of a lead contamination scare to be safe, the authority which raised the alarm still has serious concerns — but can’t say so publicly due to a legal threat from the German supermarket giant.

Aldi on Wednesday said its Spiral Spring Mixer Tap — bought by an estimated 12,000 households — had passed additional testing against the Australian Standard then went on the attack against its accuser, the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.

Earlier this month the QBCC had said the Chinese-made tap gave off as much as 15 times the maximum allowable level of lead and urged people to not use water from it for drinking or cooking. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission echoed the warning.

As revealed by News Corp Australia, the QBCC had gone public based on results from Queensland Health’s Forensic and Scientific Services unit on a single tap.

ALDI TAP LEAD POISON FEAR: Easy Home spiral spring mixer

The Aldi tap found to contaminate water with 15 times the allowable level of lead. Picture: Supplied

“The QBCC published statements about the safety of the tap based on tests they had carried out that were not conducted in accordance with the Australian Standard and were not conducted by an appropriately accredited laboratory,” Aldi Australia chief executive Tom Daunt said.

The QBCC’s actions had been disappointing, generating “unnecessary concern and inconvenience”, he said.

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The testing for Aldi was done by the Australian Water Quality Centre, whose senior manager of laboratory services Karen Simpson said it had checked for the full range of 12 metal elements as prescribed in Australian Standard and the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG).

“All metal elements measured in this instance were within the ADWG values,” Ms Simpson said.

However, a Queensland Government source on Wednesday night said the QBCC still had concerns the tap gave off an unacceptable amount of lead.

It’s understood Aldi has threatened legal action against the QBCC if it makes any further negative statements about the tap.

When News Corp Australia asked Aldi if it had made a legal threat against the QBCC, a spokeswoman said: “Aldi is in communication with the QBCC.”

Master Plumbers Australia technical services director Ernie Kretschmer said it wanted to see the results of the QBCC’s further testing, available in about a fortnight.

“If that testing comes back negative, retest the first tap,” Mr Kretschmer said. “If that first tap is shown to be defective the original statement by the QBCC still stands.”

The QBCC did not respond to requests for comment.

Originally published as Fears persist over Aldi tap found to contaminate water with high amounts of lead