Guides

• How to tell if your home has a lead service line

  A 2-minute check you can do yourself: find where water enters your home, scratch the pipe and try a magnet. Plus how to read your utility inventory.

• What "lead status unknown" means

  Over 21 million U.S. service lines are listed as unknown material. What it means, why you got a letter, and what to do.

• Water filters that remove lead

  How to pick a filter that actually removes lead: NSF/ANSI 53 and 58 certification, pitcher vs faucet vs under-sink, and how to verify a model.

• How to test your tap water for lead

  Free utility tests, certified lab kits and at-home strips compared. How to take a first-draw sample so the result means something.

• Lead service line replacement: cost, who pays and deadlines

  What a lead service line replacement costs, which part your utility pays for, federal funding, and the December 31, 2037 deadline under EPA's LCRI.

• Does a Brita filter remove lead?

  Only some Brita filters are certified to remove lead. Which Brita, PUR and ZeroWater filters are, and how to check any filter for NSF/ANSI 53 lead certification.

• Is it safe to shower with lead pipes?

  Lead in water is a drinking and cooking risk, not a showering one. What CDC says about bathing, and which uses of tap water need a filter.

• Lead in drinking water: health effects and symptoms

  Most people exposed to lead have no symptoms. What lead does to children and adults, who is most at risk, and why a blood test is the only way to know.

• Lead vs galvanized pipes

  What "galvanized requiring replacement" means, how to tell lead and galvanized pipe apart with a magnet, and why galvanized lines can carry lead.

• Do old houses have lead pipes?

  Homes built before 1986 can have lead service lines, lead solder or leaded brass. What to check in an older home, by era.

• Buying a house with a lead service line

  How to find out if a home has a lead service line before you buy, how to negotiate the replacement, and what programs can cover it.

• Lead pipe replacement grants and free programs

  Where the money for lead service line replacement comes from, how homeowners get free or discounted replacement, and what to ask your utility.

• Renting a home with lead pipes

  What renters should know about lead service line notices, who has to approve replacement, and how to protect your drinking water now.