Lead Service Lines
According to the Environmental Defense Fund, over 6 million homes in America have lead service lines. This means the pipes used to run water into homes and businesses from the water main in the street are made of lead. That matters because lead from service lines and older plumbing can dissolve into drinking water. The EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, finalized in 2024, require most water systems to replace lead service lines within 10 years. If you have health questions about lead, talk to your doctor or your county health department.
Water that passes through a lead pipe can pick up lead, which can leach into the water in varying concentrations before coming out of taps. Water systems test the water they deliver, but those results don’t account for every home’s service line and plumbing — part of the service line, and the plumbing inside your home, are typically the homeowner’s responsibility. A test of your own tap is how you find out what is reaching your fixtures.
What is a Lead Water Service Line?
Service lines are the pipes responsible for bringing water directly into your home from the water main buried in the street. Until the mid 1980s, plumbing pipes and solder were commonly made of lead. If you live in an older home, it’s especially important to check your service lines for lead. And whether pipes themselves are made of lead, or simply soldered with lead, the risk of contaminating your drinking water is still present.
How Can I Tell if I Have Lead Service Lines?
The majority of residential water service lines are either copper, galvanized steel, or lead. In order to determine which yours is, you first need to identify your home’s water main. These are typically found either in the garage, basement, or outside near an exterior wall. If you’ve ever turned off the water to your house, this is the same fixture you’re looking for.
Once you’ve located your water main, you need to expose a portion of the pipe itself – many pipes, especially those outdoors, will have been corroded over time and some may even be covered in tape or other protective material.
You can tell a few things just by looking at the metal component of the pipe — If it’s colored like a penny then it’s most likely copper. If you can’t tell what kind of material the pipe is by looking, you’ll need to use a tool like the end of a flathead screwdriver or a coin to gently scratch the surface of the pipe. Shiny silver indicates either steel or lead and to tell the difference you’ll need a magnet.
If the magnet sticks to your pipe, it’s galvanized steel, not lead. If a magnet doesn’t stick to your pipe, and it can be easily scratched, there’s a pretty good chance it’s lead.
My House Has Lead Water Service Lines — What Now?
If you think you have a lead service line, contact your water utility — many now keep lead service line inventories and run replacement programs — and have your water tested by a certified lab. In the meantime, you can follow the EPA’s general guidance to run your tap before using it for drinking or cooking and to use only cold water for those uses. A plumber can confirm your pipe material, and you can also consider installing a point-of-use water filter like our Aquasential Tankless RO Drinking Water Filter System that’s certified for lead reduction. Look for the NSF/ANSI Standard label or certification on any water filter you’re considering and check its performance data sheet to confirm it is certified to reduce lead.
If you have any other questions about lead service lines in your neighborhood, or how Culligan of Orange County can help, let us know, today!
