Lead in Tap Water: When to Worry and What to Test

The uncomfortable fact about lead: your utility can be fully compliant and your tap can still have a problem, because lead enters water from service lines and home plumbing after the water leaves the plant. That's why your neighbor's test result doesn't settle yours.

Your risk, in one question

When was your home built? Lead service lines were installed into the 1950s–60s in many cities, and lead solder on copper pipe was legal until 1986. Post-1986 construction is low-risk; anything older deserves a test. There is no safe taste-test — lead is undetectable by the senses at any relevant level.

The checklist

• **Ask your utility for a free lead test** — many offer them, and utilities are now required to inventory and disclose lead service lines. Ask directly: "Is my service line lead?"
• **Or use a certified lab kit** ($50–$200) — first-draw sample after water sat overnight, which catches what pipes leach while idle.
• **If lead is found:** use an NSF/ANSI 53 lead-certified filter (pitcher, faucet or under-sink RO) for all drinking and cooking water immediately — it's cheap and effective.
• **Run cold, flush first:** never cook with hot tap water (it leaches metals faster), and flush the tap 30–60 seconds after long idle periods.
• **Ask about replacement:** federal infrastructure funding has made free or subsidized lead service line replacement widely available — your utility knows the local program.

Households with children or a pregnancy should treat this as this week's errand, not someday's — developing nervous systems are where lead does its damage. Start with your state's water quality context, then test your own tap.