"I fear for my toddlers" health"

A mother-of-two has said she fears for the health of her toddler twins after being told the amount of lead in her tap water was more than seven and a half times higher than the legal limit.

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Charlene Hegarty did not know there were lead pipes in her Belfast home when she bought it seven years ago.

Lead pipes are mostly found in homes built before 1970.

NI Water"s worst case estimate is that 26% of all properties could still be connected to lead pipes.

That is the equivalent of nearly a quarter of a million homes.

The company told BBC News NI it was "committed to reducing the risk to its customers of lead in drinking water".

But Ms Hegarty is worried not enough is being done to make people aware of the potential dangers.

The 36-year-old made the discovery after finding residue in her water. She contacted NI Water which took a sample for testing.

"We were fearful"

After some confusion over whether it was tested for lead, she received a letter from Belfast City Council advising her of high lead levels in her drinking water.

"I"ve got two young kids and we give them tap water as the healthy choice. They don"t have fizzy drinks because we"re trying to promote a healthy lifestyle, " Ms Hegarty, who lives on Loopland Crescent in east Belfast, said.

"I adhere to a healthy lifestyle. I run. I drink two litres of water a day because that"s good for you - that"s what we"re told.

"It brought it into sharp focus that the tap water can"t be presumed as safe when lead is potentially in the property.

"My lead reading was 76 when the acceptable standard at the minute is 10. That was really quite alarming.

"We were fearful. I just didn"t trust what was coming out of the tap was right and safe at that point."