Lead in Tap Water: How to Know If You're at Risk (And What to Do)
Lead in tap water has no taste, smell, or color. You can't detect it yourself — but you can know your risk, test accurately, and filter it out. Here's how.
Here's the uncomfortable truth about lead in tap water: you can't detect it yourself. It has no taste, no smell, no color. Water with dangerous levels of lead looks identical to perfectly clean water. And unlike cloudy or brown water — problems that announce themselves — lead contamination gives you nothing to work with unless you know where to look.
That's what this guide is for. We'll cover how lead gets into tap water in the first place, who's actually at risk, how to test your water, and what filters genuinely remove it — including a few that don't work despite popular belief.
Why Is Lead in Tap Water?
Lead doesn't come from the source water itself. Reservoirs, rivers, and groundwater don't naturally contain meaningful levels of it. The problem is the infrastructure between the treatment plant and your glass.
For most of the 20th century, lead was the standard material for water pipes. It was cheap, flexible, and easy to work with. The United States used lead service lines — the pipes connecting the city main to individual homes — throughout most of the country until 1986, when the Safe Drinking Water Act amendments finally banned new lead plumbing. Germany and much of Europe followed similar timelines, with lead solder banned in most countries by the early 1990s.
That means any building constructed before those cutoffs may still have lead somewhere in its plumbing — either in the service line itself, in internal pipes, or in the solder joining copper pipes together. The EPA estimates that up to 10 million American homes still receive water through lead service lines today.
The mechanism is corrosion. Water that is slightly acidic, low in minerals, or treated with certain chemicals can leach lead from pipe walls as it flows through. This is what happened in Flint, Michigan in 2014: the city switched water sources without adjusting the corrosion control treatment, and within months, lead levels in some homes reached 13,000 parts per billion — nearly 900 times the EPA's action level. The crisis made national news, but less-reported versions of the same problem occur in cities across the country every year.
How Much Lead Is Dangerous?
The short answer is: there is no safe level of lead exposure.
The EPA's current action level is 15 parts per billion (ppb) — the threshold at which water systems must take corrective action. The World Health Organization sets its guideline at 10 ppb. But both organizations are clear that these are regulatory thresholds, not safety guarantees. The CDC states explicitly that no amount of lead exposure has been proven safe, particularly for children.
For context on those numbers: the average lead level in uncontaminated tap water is below 1 ppb. Levels above 5 ppb are considered elevated by most health authorities. Above 15 ppb, you're in regulatory action territory.
The groups most vulnerable to lead exposure are children under six, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system. In children, even low-level exposure affects neurological development — cognitive function, attention, and behavior — in ways that don't reverse when the exposure stops. In adults, chronic exposure is associated with elevated blood pressure, kidney damage, and cardiovascular effects.
Who Is Actually at Risk?
Lead exposure from tap water isn't evenly distributed. The risk depends heavily on your specific home and its plumbing history. A few questions that indicate elevated risk:
When was your home built? Buildings constructed before 1986 in the US (or before roughly 1970 in much of Europe) are significantly more likely to have lead pipes or lead solder. The older the building, the higher the probability.
Do you rent in an older apartment building? Multi-unit buildings often have complex internal plumbing that was never updated when lead was phased out. Lead solder in older copper systems is common and invisible.
Has your water service line ever been replaced? Many cities are actively replacing lead service lines — but partial replacements can actually temporarily increase lead levels by disturbing pipe scale. If your city replaced the street-side portion of your line without replacing the household side, your exposure risk may have gone up, not down.
Does your water taste slightly metallic, or have you noticed staining on fixtures? These aren't reliable indicators — lead has no taste — but metallic taste can sometimes indicate pipe corrosion more generally.
Have you received any notice from your water utility about lead? Utilities are required to notify customers when testing shows elevated lead levels. If you've received such a notice, take it seriously.
Lead Levels in Major US Cities
System-wide averages from 51 major US cities — based on 2024 Consumer Confidence Reports — show that most cities are well below the EPA action level of 15 ppb. But the range is significant: Boston and New York City both report 90th percentile lead levels above 10 ppb, meaning that in the worst-case homes in those cities, lead is approaching regulatory action territory even at the system level.
Cities with elevated lead levels (90th percentile at or above 5 ppb) in 2024 CCR data:
| City | Lead (90th pct.) | EPA Action Level |
|---|---|---|
| Boston, MA | 11.7 ppb | 15 ppb |
| New York City, NY | 10.0 ppb | 15 ppb |
| Omaha, NE | 7.6 ppb | 15 ppb |
| Chicago, IL | 7.1 ppb | 15 ppb |
| New Orleans, LA | 6.0 ppb | 15 ppb |
| Colorado Springs, CO | 5.7 ppb | 15 ppb |
| Milwaukee, WI | 5.3 ppb | 15 ppb |
| Indianapolis, IN | 5.2 ppb | 15 ppb |
| Los Angeles, CA | 5.0 ppb | 15 ppb |
| San Diego, CA | 5.0 ppb | 15 ppb |
None of these cities exceed the EPA action level at the system level. But remember: the 90th percentile is a statistical floor, not a ceiling. Specific homes in these cities — particularly older buildings with lead service lines — can test significantly higher than the system average. Philadelphia, despite a system-wide 90th percentile of just 2.0 ppb, had three homes above the action level in its most recent testing round.
At the other end of the spectrum, cities like Austin, Charlotte, Raleigh, Oakland, and Sacramento report 0 ppb at the 90th percentile — meaning lead is essentially undetectable even in the highest-testing homes in those systems.
These are system averages. Your specific home may be different — which is why testing at the tap matters. Check your city's full water quality report to see lead data, PFAS levels, and hardness for your area.
How to Test Your Water for Lead
The only way to know your actual lead level is to test. Your water utility's annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) gives system-wide averages, but these averages don't tell you what's happening at your specific tap — a home with old lead pipes could have levels many times higher than the system average.
The most practical option for most households is a home test kit. These range from basic single-use strips to more comprehensive lab-based kits that you mail in for professional analysis. We've reviewed and compared the options in detail — including which certifications to look for and which budget kits are worth your time — in our guide to the best water test kits.
For lead specifically, look for kits certified to NSF/ANSI 61 or those that test to EPA method 200.8 — the same methodology used by certified laboratories. Strip-based tests exist for lead but are generally less reliable than mail-in lab analysis for accurate ppb readings.
If you're in a high-risk situation — old building, known lead service lines, or you have young children — a lab-based test is worth the additional cost for the accuracy it provides.
What Lead Does to the Body
Lead accumulates. Unlike some contaminants that the body processes and eliminates relatively quickly, lead is stored in bone tissue and released gradually over years. This means that chronic low-level exposure compounds over time in ways that occasional higher exposures don't.
In children, the effects are primarily neurological. Lead interferes with the development of the brain and nervous system during critical windows that don't reopen. Studies consistently link childhood lead exposure to reduced IQ, attention deficits, and behavioral problems — effects that persist into adulthood regardless of whether the exposure stops.
In adults, the primary documented risks are cardiovascular: elevated blood pressure and increased risk of hypertension. Kidney function is also affected by chronic exposure. The CDC notes that adults with high bone lead levels — accumulated over a lifetime of exposure — continue to experience effects even after the source of exposure is removed.
None of this is meant to be alarmist. At typical tap water lead levels — below 5 ppb — the health risk from drinking water is relatively low compared to other exposure pathways like old paint or contaminated soil. But it's a real risk, it's preventable, and the steps to address it are straightforward.
What Actually Removes Lead — And What Doesn't
This is where most guides get vague. The filtration question matters because the wrong filter gives you a false sense of security.
| Method | Removes Lead? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Boiling water | ❌ No | Actually concentrates lead as water evaporates |
| Standard Brita pitcher (without lead filter) | ❌ No | Standard activated carbon doesn't remove lead |
| Brita Elite / Longlast filter | ✅ Yes | Specifically certified for lead reduction |
| Any NSF/ANSI 53 certified filter | ✅ Yes | The certification to look for |
| Reverse osmosis system | ✅ Yes | Most effective option, removes 95–99% |
| Running the tap before use | ⚠️ Partially | Flushes standing water from pipes, reduces but doesn't eliminate |
| Distillation | ✅ Yes | Effective but impractical for daily use |
The single most important thing to understand: boiling water does not remove lead. It's one of the most persistent myths in household water safety. Boiling kills biological contaminants — bacteria, viruses, parasites. It has no effect on heavy metals. In fact, as water evaporates during boiling, the concentration of lead in the remaining water increases slightly.
For a permanent solution, a filter certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for lead reduction is the most practical option for most households. Under-sink systems are more effective than pitcher filters simply because they filter larger volumes more consistently. Reverse osmosis systems offer the highest removal rates and are worth considering for households with confirmed elevated lead levels or young children.
The other short-term step worth knowing: run your cold tap for 30–60 seconds before drinking or cooking, especially after water has been sitting in pipes overnight. This doesn't eliminate the problem but does reduce it by flushing the most lead-exposed water.
Long-Term: Getting the Lead Out
If you own your home and want a permanent solution, the only real fix is replacing lead pipes. This is expensive — full service line replacement typically runs $3,000–$10,000 depending on location and length — but many cities and states now offer partial or full subsidies for lead pipe replacement, particularly for lower-income households.
The EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, finalized in 2024, require water systems to replace all lead service lines within ten years. Many cities are ahead of that timeline. Your water utility's website should have information on whether your service line is lead and whether replacement programs are available.
If you rent, your options are more limited. A point-of-use filter at the kitchen tap is the practical solution while you're in the property. Landlords in most US states are required to disclose known lead hazards, and you have the right to request your building's water testing records.
The Short Version
Lead in tap water is a real risk in older buildings, invisible without testing, and not removed by boiling. The steps to address it are concrete: test your water, use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 if your levels are elevated, and run your tap for a minute before using water that's been sitting overnight.
If you have young children or are pregnant, treat this as a priority rather than something to get to eventually. The health effects of lead exposure in early childhood are permanent in ways that make prevention worth the effort.
Want to know where your city stands? TapWater.org publishes lead levels, PFAS data, and hardness for dozens of major US cities based on the most recent Consumer Confidence Reports — no account required. Enter your city to see your report.
Further reading: Brown Tap Water: Causes, Safety & What To Do · Best Water Test Kits Reviewed · Check Your City's Tap Water Quality