Lead in Drinking Water:

Lead in drinking water comes from many sources, but the most common source is lead water pipes, also known as service lines. Lead service lines were once very common in the United States, which is why so many still remain in existence. Lead pipes are more likely to be found in older cities and homes built before 1986.

Another common source of lead in drinking water is solder used to join copper pipes. As with lead pipes, lead solder is no longer in use, but older homes and facilities may still experience lead “leaching” into the drinking water from lead solder as well as pipes. Leaching means the water reacts with the lead, causing it to dissolve into the drinking water.

Lead can also leach into drinking water from brass or chrome-plated connections, or endpoint devices such as older faucets and drinking fountains. However, this is far less common, as most faucet and fittings manufacturers reduced lead in their brass formulations years ago. When lead is detected in drinking water, it is usually from lead service lines or solder.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), you cannot see, taste, or smell lead in drinking water.

But this is important: if your home or building was built prior to 1986, your water may be at risk for lead contamination.

How do you know for sure? If your home or facility is on a public water system, your provider is required to provide a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) every year. This report can tell you what contaminants, including lead, are present in your area’s supplied water. Note that a CCR will not tell you specifically about your home or facility. For that, you need to have your water tested. Private labs and water treatment companies offer water testing services. Some municipalities may pay for the test. More details are below for facilities managers and homeowners.

Children and pregnant women are most vulnerable to unsatisfactory health outcomes from lead exposure. Among the risks cited by the EPA are damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities, shorter stature, impaired hearing, and impaired formation and function of blood cells. Remember, too, that lead can come from a variety of sources. For example, there are still homes and buildings that have lead paint.

If you manage a daycare, school, or other facility frequented by children, and there is lead present in your drinking water, there is an urgent need to improve your drinking water quality.

About Allowable Levels of Lead in Products

The EPA defines a “lead-free” plumbing product as not exceeding the weighted average of 0.25 percent lead in the surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures that touch the water. This rule also requires not more than 0.2 percent lead when used with respect to solder and flux.

Installing “lead-free” products may not be enough to reduce the lead in drinking water. That is because the amount of lead present in drinking water and the amount of lead present in products are two different things and measured differently. Therefore, the existence of piping and products installed prior to this ruling means your home or facility may still have harmful lead levels in your drinking water, even if you replace older fixtures and fittings.

About Allowable Levels of Lead in Drinking Water

There are two EPA concepts to understand when it comes to measuring lead in drinking water.

The first is the maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG). MCLGs are “the maximum level of a contaminant in drinking water at which no known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons would occur, allowing an adequate margin of safety.”

The EPA itself notes that MCLGs are goals, but are not always attainable because of the limits on the testing and treatment technologies. While the EPA’s MCLG sets an ideal goal of zero lead, due to the number of lead service lines remaining in existence, this is not an achievable level for public water systems.

That is why the second concept, called an “action level,” is important to know. An EPA “action level” is a standard that must be met. The EPA Lead and Copper Rule update in 2020 sets an action level for community water systems at 15 ppb (parts per billion). If lead concentrations exceed this action level in more than 10 percent of customer taps sampled, the system must undertake a number of additional actions.

While the EPA sets action levels at a national level, states and local jurisdictions may impose more stringent, stricter rules through their own legislation.

Federal dollars to remove lead from drinking water have been allocated to states through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework passed in 2021. Under the Biden-Harris Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan, the EPA is allocating $3 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to states, tribes, and territories for lead service line replacements. 

The infrastructure bill also allocates funding for water treatment devices to improve drinking water safety, specifically to reduce the presence of lead and other harmful contaminants.

As states receive further guidance and make plans to invest in water systems, it is critical for policymakers and state officials to pay particular attention to vulnerable and underserved communities that have buildings constructed prior to 1986 and where the plumbing has never been updated or retrofitted.

It is important to know that funds from the infrastructure bill are only available for five years. States need to continue to fine-tune their plans for replacing lead service lines and impacted plumbing systems, working with their constituents to secure point-of-use water filters.

Effective Jan. 1, 2023, California will prevent the sale and manufacture of sink faucets, water fountains,  hot and cold water dispensers, and related drinking water endpoint devices that leach more than 1 ppb. 

The California law, known as AB 100, requires products to be third-party certified and requires consumer-facing product packaging or product labeling of an endpoint device to bear specified lettering when the endpoint device meets that lead leaching standard.

Manufacturers and distributors that sell products in California can learn more from these FAQs about California AB 100.

If you are in charge of facilities for schools, daycare, or worship facilities, it is important to act now to remove lead from your drinking water with the available infrastructure investment.

As noted above, the only way to know for sure if you have lead in your facility’s drinking water is through testing. For facilities connected to community water systems, it makes sense to request your local Consumer Confidence Report, referenced above. But while this will tell you about your water system, it will not diagnose the quality of the water in your facility. The EPA provides a list of accredited laboratories that test drinking water for lead.

As a starting point, the EPA also provides this handy guide with pictures and step-by-step instructions to evaluate the potential for lead in your facility’s drinking water.

If you are concerned about lead in your drinking water or lead pipes are known to be in your area, follow these steps:

As a starting point, the EPA provides this handy guide with pictures and step-by-step instructions to evaluate the potential for lead in your home’s drinking water.

If you are connected to a community water system, request its Consumer Confidence Report. Note that while this will tell you about your water system, it will not diagnose the quality of the water in your home. Testing is the only way to know for sure. The EPA provides a list of accredited laboratories that test drinking water for lead.

If you do find or suspect lead in your water:

• Purchase certified lead-free plumbing products. The EPA provides this helpful brochure to identify products that qualify as “lead-free” under its definition.
• Install certified lead-removing point-of-entry or point-of-use water filters from an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)-accredited certification body such as IAPMO R&T. The product testing and certification arm of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, IAPMO R&T and IAPMO R&T Lab represent one of the first third-party conformity assessment bodies in North America to test and certify products and filters to meet lead-free and lead-reduction requirements.
• The EPA provides this brochure with an overview of what to look for in drinking water filters that are certified to reduce lead.

If your water tests positive for lead or lead pipes are known to be in your area, do not wait for lead service line replacement projects. There are steps you should take to protect your facility now.

One way to do this is to install certified lead-removing point-of-entry or point-of-use water filters from an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)-accredited certification body such as IAPMO R&T, the product certification arm of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials. IAPMO R&T and IAPMO R&T Lab represent one of the first third-party conformity assessment bodies in North America to test and certify products and filters to meet lead-free and lead-reduction requirements.

The EPA provides this brochure with an overview of what to look for in drinking water filters that are certified to reduce lead.

Your facility may qualify for financial assistance in filter replacement under the Infrastructure Bill of 2021. Small and underserved communities that are not on public water systems are most likely to have homes and buildings that qualify. Learn more from Federal Grant Wire.

The first step is to check with your state agency responsible for drinking water quality — whether that is the Department of Health, State Water Board, or the Department of Environmental Protection — and see what provisions or guidance they already provide for drinking water quality monitoring. If your state is not already taking action to address elevated lead levels in drinking water, then legislation or regulations may be necessary.

Legislation can help direct state and/or federal funding, provide prescriptive guidance, and establish requirements for adequate and timely testing, repair, and reporting on water quality to inform the public. Several states have passed laws that focus on schools’ drinking water systems, require the development of statewide regulations, and mandate the use of certified products that meet national drinking water treatment standards.

Here is a list of bills that could serve as good examples of legislation to put forward in your state:

• California’s AB 100 (2021): Requires that endpoint plumbing fixtures meet a performance standard in addition to the existing content standard to qualify as “lead-free” under California law. Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to base its evaluation of product compliance upon documentation provided by an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)-accredited certification body that has certified the endpoint device does not leach more than one microgram of lead per liter of water.
• Utah’s HB 21 (2022): Outlines timelines for schools and child care centers to test the quality of water in their buildings and report that testing data. Facilities will need to take action if the presence of lead is above 5 parts per billion, keeping in line with the industry’s current drinking water quality standards and product capabilities.
• Washington’s HB 1139 (2021): Establishes a deadline for the Washington State Department of Health to test all faucets at schools used for drinking water and food preparation. Requires the state’s Department of Health to develop technical guidance that must describe best practices for remediating elevated lead levels at drinking water outlets in schools. Best practices must include installing and maintaining filters certified by an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)-accredited certification body. The bill would require that parents be notified when high lead levels are found.

As noted above, lead poisoning can come from a variety of sources beyond drinking water. WebMD has a good article on lead poisoning symptoms for children and adults.

If you are worried about lead toxicity, talk to your health care provider about a blood test. The early detection and treatment of any potential cases of lead toxicity will help mitigate future risks associated with this type of poisoning.