Test your tap water for lead. If the ug/L do not come up to the levels of a health risk then there is no immediate concern in my opinion and you have time to do more research as to what direction you may want to go.
http://www.americanvintagehome.com/...y-you-need-to-swap-out-your-galvanized-pipes/
In the early 20th century, galvanized piping replaced previously-used
cast iron and
lead in cold-water plumbing. Typically, galvanized piping rusts from the inside out, building up layers of plaque on the inside of the piping, causing both water pressure problems and eventual pipe failure. These plaques can flake off, leading to visible impurities in water and a slight metallic taste. The life expectancy of galvanized piping is about 70 years,[
citation needed] but it may vary by region due to impurities in the water supply and the proximity of electrical grids for which interior piping acts as a pathway (the flow of electricity can accelerate chemical corrosion). Pipe longevity also depends on the thickness of zinc in the original galvanizing, which ranges on a scale from G40 to G210,[
clarification needed] and whether the pipe was galvanized on both the inside and outside, or just the outside.
Since World War II,
copper and
plastic piping have replaced galvanized piping for interior drinking water service, but galvanized steel pipes are still used in outdoor applications requiring steel's superior mechanical strength. The use of galvanized pipes lends some truth to the urban myth that water purity in outdoor water faucets is lower, but the actual impurities (iron, zinc, calcium) are harmless.[
citation needed]
The presence of galvanized piping detracts from the appraised value of housing stock because piping can fail, increasing the risk of water damage. Galvanized piping will eventually need to be replaced if housing stock is to outlast a 50 to 70 year life expectancy, and some jurisdictions[
which?] require galvanized piping to be replaced before sale.
New source of lead in drinking water identified: Galvanized steel pipe coatings
July 22, 2015
When unsafe levels of lead are found in drinking water, the culprit has typically been lead pipes or lead-containing brass and bronze fittings, but in a new study researchers clearly show that lead present in the zinc coating of galvanized steel pipes can be a very significant long-term source of lead in water. Copper piping installed upstream of a galvanized steel pipe can worsen lead release from the steel's zinc coating, according to the study published in
Environmental Engineering Science.
In "Lead Release to Drinking Water form Galvanized Steel Pipe Coatings," Brandi Clark, Sheldon Vaughn Masters, and Marc Edwards, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, analyzed water samples from homes with galvanized steel pipes in several cities across the U.S. In some cases the lead levels were greater than 100 µg/L. In simulated laboratory tests the concentration of lead in water found through galvanized steel pipes reached a maximum of 172 µg/L, which is more than 10 times the action level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"The Edwards' laboratory is well known for uncovering risks associated with concentrations of lead in urban water supplies," says Domenico Grasso, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of
Environmental Engineering Science and Provost, University of Delaware. "This latest important paper from this research group has identified galvanized pipes as a potentially significant source of lead."
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2015-07-source-galvanized-steel-pipe-coatings.html#jCp
