Take Action
Lead is colorless, odorless, and tasteless — undetectable. There is no safe level of lead in drinking water.
The best way to eliminate risk is to remove and replace all lead pipes — a process that is now underway. As the U.S. works toward that goal, here are essential steps you can take today to reduce your exposure and advocate for safer drinking water.
Use a Water Filter to Protect Your Health
The single best thing you can do to protect your health is to use a water filter for the water you drink and cook with. Here are some tips to help ensure you are using the filter correctly:
- It’s important to know that not all filters remove lead. So, be sure to select one that is certified to remove lead or use bottled water for drinking and cooking. Read about how to find a good water filter in The Public Health and Safety Organization’s (NSF) guide to water filters.
- Temperature matters! Only run cold water through a water filter. Hot water can permanently damage it.
- As with any product, be sure to read the instructions for use! Change your water filter according to its instructions.
Find answers to your questions about your water filter at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline.
Contact Your Water System for More Information
Another thing you can do to protect your health is request more information.
- Ask your public water system what kind of service lines you have. And although tests are not always accurate, you can also ask them to test your drinking water. Learn more about home water testing.
- Water utility companies send out an annual drinking water quality report, also known as a consumer confidence report (CCRs), each year. You may find it in the mail, or you can search for your local CCR using this Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tool. This report, although sometimes imperfect, can give you more information about potential risks and ongoing or planned work to safeguard the water supply.
Additional Tips to Minimize Your Risk of Lead Exposure in Drinking Water
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Comprehensive overview about lead in water, including tips to protect yourself. The CDC also links to several resources from the EPA for more information.
About the Issue
National Resources Defense Council (NRDC):
Video explaining what you need to know about lead service line replacement.
Create Community-Wide Change
Contact Your Local Water Utility
Ask your local water utility if they have free filtering options and/or a program to replace pipes that are predicted to have lead for free or at reduced cost.
Advocate for Policy Change
You can advocate for:
- Local policy changes that make lead service line replacement free and mandatory for customers.
- Federal policy changes that make lead service line replacements happen more quickly and equitably. Under federal law, water utilities have until 2031 to replace their water service lines that contain lead. You can add your name to NRDC’s petition to request that President Biden speed up this process.
Apply for Funding
Through programs like the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund ($1.1B in 2019), the Disadvantaged Communities Drinking Water Grant ($42M in 2019), and HUD Community Development Block Grants ($3.3B in 2024), communities can apply for federal funding to carry out lead service line replacement projects.
What Water Systems Can Do
Take the EPA’s Infrastructure Needs Drinking Water Survey
Please report your service line data to the EPA before October 16, 2024. This data will be used to assess infrastructure needs and allocate grants to help get the lead out equitably. Learn more on the EPA’s website.
Make Your Lead Service Line Inventories Available to the Public
If you have not made your data publicly available, the possibility of lead on the LeadOut Map cannot be easily estimated. Reach out to us to ensure your community is represented. Thank you to the thousands of water utilities who have made their data available to date!
Update Data Regarding Your Water Service Lines
LeadOut Map uses publicly available data, including water system reports, to locate areas where lead may be present and inform our estimates. Contact us if you believe your information is out of date.
