Frequently Asked Questions

There is no safe level of lead in drinking water. The best way to reduce your exposure to potential lead in your drinking water is to use a water filter. Visit the Take Action page for instructions on how to find a water filter that is certified to remove lead, as well as how to properly use it.

Bathing, showering, and washing your hands should be safe because skin does not absorb lead in water.

There are a few things you can do to protect yourself from lead in your drinking water. The single best thing you can do is to use a water filter. Visit the Take Action page for instructions on how to find a water filter that is certified to remove lead, as well as how to properly use it. This page has information about requests you can make of your local water utility company, your state policymakers, and the federal government to get more information about your water service lines. 

While lead pipes are a large source of lead exposure today, lead can also be present in paint (and the resulting dust when it peels or cracks), soil, some foods, and other consumer products, such as toys and dishware, that were created before bans went into effect in the late 1970s. Learn more at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

You can request information from your water utility company or your public works department, which oversees the construction of roads, buildings, streets, and other local infrastructure. Find your department of public works through your city or town government’s website.

Step 1: Collect lead service line inventory data
First, BlueConduit collected lead service line data from a combination of state environmental agency websites and EPA’s Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (DWINSA), a survey collected in 2023, which was obtained via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request data shared by the Natural Resources Defense Council. BlueConduit was able to collect information about service line materials from 9,809 public water systems across all 50 states and Washington D.C. More than 300,000 customer and utility-owned LSL were reported—directly or by FOIA request—across the 1,135 cities and towns; the remaining 8,684 water systems reported zero.

Step 2: Match inventory data to water system and environmental justice data
Next, BlueConduit matched the inventory data by public water system ID to the national Water Utility Service Area Boundaries data set and collected the EPA’s Environmental Justice Index data for each city and town, which helps them understand what communities are most at risk of health consequences as a result of pollution and other environmental factors.

Step 3: Use machine learning to fill in the gaps
Finally, they used all of the data to train a machine learning model, which can estimate how many lead service lines are likely within as many of the remaining 48,000 U.S. public water systems as possible. They combine these estimates with all of our lead service line information nationwide and make them available on LeadOut Map for the public to access and explore.

BlueConduit gathered the data that underlies the LeadOut Map in 2023. Some of this data was updated as recently as that year; other data includes historical records, census and real estate data, and other information that may date back as long as 100 years.

As we approach the EPA’s deadline and have access to more reports, we will update LeadOut Map, tracking progress around which water systems have made their full inventories and any inventory reports publicly available. We will use this new data to improve estimates nationwide. As inventories become available, we also plan to link to this address-level information, so residents can get the information they need.

LeadOut Map relies on the most up-to-date service line material data reported to the EPA via SDWIS. Because we did not work with every water system individually, we do not expect all of this data to be fully updated or representative. For systems that have not yet reported inventories, our model identifies which systems are most similar in terms of demographics, size, state, and reported infrastructure age to estimate lower and upper bounds of the total number of estimated service lines.

This model strives to be conservative and our model improves with more information. If you are a water system that has publicly available evidence that the estimates are inaccurate, please contact us.

Because LeadOut Map utilizes the same underlying technology as BlueConduit’s commercial products, we can also look at accuracy metrics for those products as a proxy for LeadOut Map accuracy. For our LSL Predictions customers — where we’ve ensured data is current and representative of the full water system — BlueConduit predictive models routinely identify 80-90%+ of lead total lines (recall), and these positive predictions are 80-90%+ accurate (precision), with 90%+ hit rates during replacement. These accuracy metrics relate to service line level predictions.

Yes! It is our intention to have the most up-to-date information available on the LeadOut Map. Please contact us with updated data and include your data source.

Yes, you can only see water system–level district data.

Most water utilities have not yet made address-level pipe inventories publicly available. This data will become available as water utilities begin to report data in accordance with EPA’s inventory deadline of October 16, 2024. As they do, BlueConduit also plans to link to this address-level information, so residents can get the information they need. (BlueConduit has worked with some municipalities on a paid and pro bono basis.)

In the meantime, water system–level information helps water systems that seek State Revolving Funds or Federal EPA funds and need to estimate their funding needs. This information also helps communities more clearly understand the the full, possible picture of lead pipes in their communities.

If you see the yellow shade, this means that less than 10% of your water service lines contain lead; the LeadOut Map cannot guarantee all lead pipes are removed, as these are estimates based on best available but not perfect information. If you only see gray, this means that there is not enough data about the water system’s lead service lines. This represents a lack of information—not necessarily a lack of lead. 

As we approach the EPA’s October 16, 2024, reporting deadline, we will make updates to the map, tracking water systems’ progress with making inventories publicly available and reporting them to their state regulatory agencies. We will use this data to improve estimates nationwide.

To best ensure accuracy and transparency, we require that all information must be publicly available (via public URL) before updating LeadOut Map information. We note the date of the most recent update to the LeadOutMap.org map directly on the Map.

LeadOut Map’s estimates indicate what areas are most likely to have lead service lines, and which are least likely to have them. This can help direct city and town governments and utility companies to focus their resources and dig where the lead is. This saves millions of dollars in avoided digs and, most importantly, reduces the time that community residents are exposed to lead in their water.

Please see our Take Action page for more information about how you can help get the lead out.

BlueConduit, which powers the LeadOut Map nationwide map, was mentioned in the EPA’s 2022 Service Line Inventory Guidance and was recognized by the White House’s 2023 Pipe and Paint Progress Report. They also signed onto the White House’s 2023 Guiding Principles for Lead Service Line Replacement.