Lead in Drinking Water: Where It Comes From and How to Protect Your Home

Lead in Drinking Water: Where It Comes From and How to Protect Your Home

There is no safe level of lead in drinking water — and because it’s invisible and tasteless, testing is the only way to know. Here’s where lead comes from, who’s most at risk, and how to protect your home.

Where the lead comes from

Lead usually isn’t in the water when it leaves the treatment plant — it gets in on the way to your tap, from lead service lines and older home plumbing, solder, and brass fixtures. When water sits in these materials and corrodes them, lead leaches in (EPA). Homes built before 1986 are most likely to have lead-containing plumbing, but even newer “lead-free” brass was allowed small amounts until 2014.

Why it matters

Lead is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in the body. The CDC and EPA are clear that no level of lead exposure is considered safe, and the effects are most serious for infants, young children, and pregnant women — even low levels are linked to developmental and learning problems in children (CDC). Because the risk is highest for the most vulnerable, lead is worth taking seriously even if your level is “low.”

How to find out if you have it

  • Test your water. Utilities monitor for lead system-wide, but your home’s plumbing is unique — a certified lab test of your tap is the only way to know your level. Many utilities offer test kits; well owners should test independently.
  • Check your service line. Ask your utility whether your home is served by a lead line; many are now mapping and replacing them.
  • Flush before use. Water that’s been sitting in pipes for hours has more lead — run the cold tap until it’s noticeably colder before drinking or cooking, and never cook or make formula with hot tap water.

How to filter lead out

Choose a filter certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for lead reduction — certification is what separates a real lead filter from a taste-and-odor filter (NSF). Effective options:

  • Reverse osmosis at the kitchen sink — the most complete option, reducing lead along with many other contaminants. See under-sink RO and all RO systems.
  • Certified carbon block filters rated specifically for lead — a lower-cost route for drinking water; keep them on their replacement schedule, since a spent filter stops protecting.

Note that a standard water softener does not remove lead, and boiling does not remove it either.

Take the next step

Worried about lead? Send us your ZIP or test results for a free water analysis, browse water testing, or take the Find Your System quiz to match a certified system to your home.

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