Lead Resources
Lead and drinking water
The drinking water delivered to your home by ESWA meets or exceeds state and federal water quality standards. When high lead levels are found in tap water, the lead comes from plumbing on the customer’s property.
Customers are responsible for all home plumbing, and ESWA cannot control what plumbing materials are used beyond the water main and the ESWA portion of the water service later. Homes built before 1950 may have a service line, the pipe connecting home plumbing to the water main in the street, made from lead. Copper pipes inside homes may also be joined by solder containing lead, and older brass pipes, faucets, fittings, and valves may have some lead within them.
While ESWA treats water to make it safer for homes with lead plumbing (corrosion control), there is always a risk of lead getting into water when you have lead in your plumbing.
There are two main ways lead can get into water:
- When water sits in plumbing made from lead.
- When pieces of lead plumbing or solder break off inside drinking water pipes.
It is important for customers to check their home for lead plumbing and take steps to ensure safe water if lead is discovered. Whether your home has lead plumbing or not, there are some simple steps you can take to make sure you’re getting the cleanest, freshest water possible.
If you do find lead plumbing at your home, see “What To Do If You Have Lead Pipes” below for steps you can take, and call our office at 610.258.7181.
Service Line Inventory
To comply with requirements of the U.S. EPA’s proposed Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) by 2024, Easton Suburban Water Authority is working on a project to identify the service line material type on both the company side and the customer side for all of its customers.
ESWA’s PipeInsight is an important program to help identify our customer service materials.
Is Your Service Line Made of Lead?
Find out through our Customer Service Line material map. The most common source of lead in tap water is from interior plumbing and the service line entering the home. So being aware of your service line material is important to your health.
If our service material records are not correct, please click here to do the “self-assessment survey” or you can call the office 610.258.7181 and have a technician come out to your home and verify the material.
Lead Resources
The water mains are not made of lead. However, the water service line running from the water main to your home may be made of lead.
Have a Plumber Check for Lead
Call a licensed and insured plumber and schedule a lead audit. They can tell you if your service line, solder, or fixtures are made of lead and determine whether plumbing or fixtures should be replaced.
Do-It-Yourself Lead Service Line Check
If you know where your water meter is and can access it, you can use these instructions to check your home’s service line for lead, or watch the video below. This video was provided by the Philadelphia Water Department. It is a great video that describes how to check the material of your water pipes.
Lead can also be found in older brass fixtures, valves, and in old solder, where pipes are joined. You can test the water service line where it connects to the water meter in the basement.
Follow these steps:
You will need:
- A key or coin
- A strong refrigerator magnet
- Find the water meter in your basement. Look at the pipe that comes through the outside wall of your home and connects to your meter.
- Carefully scratch the pipe (like you would a lottery ticket) with a key or coin. Do not use a knife or other sharp tool. Proceed carefully as to not make a hole in the pipe. If the scratch turns a shiny silver color, it could be lead or steel. NOTE: If the pipe is painted, use sandpaper to expose the metal first.
- Place the magnet on the pipe. If a magnet sticks, it is a steel pipe.
If your home is connected to the water main by a water service line that has sections made from lead, it can impact your health as lead is a toxic metal. Follow the steps below to clean out your home plumbing until lead plumbing is replaced. Lead is harmful to everyone. Pregnant women, infants, children under the age of six, and adults with high blood pressure and kidney problems are at the highest risk.
Instructions for daily cleaning
Run cold water from your tap for at least three minutes. This will give you fresh water from the city water main that is safe for drinking, cooking, making baby formula, feeding your pets, making ice, or watering vegetable gardens.
Tip: You can also bring in fresh water from the city water main by taking a shower, washing dishes, using the clothes washer, or flushing the toilets first.
Best time of day?
First thing in the morning, or after you come home from work, if no one has used the water all day.
How often?
Before using water for any cooking or drinking or if no one has used the water for 6 hours or more.
For how long?
At least 3-5 minutes.
When to stop?
This ongoing maintenance is good to do regularly but is especially important in any homes that still have lead pipes.
Cleaning faucet aerators
Don’t let poorly maintained home plumbing prevent you from getting the best water available!
As water stands in your home’s plumbing, lead from the soldered joints and old lead pipes can get into your water. Other debris can build up on the aerator, too. It’s important to clean faucet aerators and screens to remove any debris from them.
How often should I clean aerators?
It’s recommended you replace the aerator annually and clean it twice a year. If the aerator appears to need frequent cleaning or becomes worn, the aerator may need to be replaced more often.
If you find that you have a lead service line, call 610.258.7181 to request to have your water tested for lead, or volunteer to have your home take part in ESWA’s Lead and Copper Sampling Program.
Contact a licensed and insured plumber to replace your water service lateral.
ESWA will come verify our service lateral from the water main. If we find our side to be lead, we will have it replaced as soon as possible. If you have already scheduled a plumber to replace your portion of the service lateral, we will work to schedule our replacement the same time.
Please note that simply having a lead service line does not mean your home’s water has high levels of lead. Anti-corrosion control treatment performed in ESWA has been shown to be effective in keeping lead levels below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard of fifteen parts per billion (15ppb).
Where high lead levels in water have been detected, the source has usually been traced to a plumbing fixture. It is always recommended that homeowners remove all potential sources of lead in plumbing when possible. In addition to replacing lead pipes and plumbing, there are immediate steps you can take to reduce the chances of lead exposure related to water use.
Short-Term Steps To Protect Your Family from Lead in Water
Always drink fresh water. Avoid drinking water that has been sitting in your home’s pipes for several hours, especially if you have lead plumbing or pipes.
If you have not used the water in your home for a few hours, turn on the cold water faucet in the sinks where you get water for drinking and cooking (your kitchen tap and bathroom tap, for example), and let the water run for 2-3 minutes. You should be able to feel the water get colder when fresh water from the water main in the street reaches your tap.
Programs for Lead Line Replacement
Private Contractors: Customers can contact any licensed and insured plumber and request an estimate for replacing lead service lines and other sources of lead in plumbing. Please note that prices vary according to a number of factors, including how far your home’s water meter is from the water main.
Make Removing Lead Pipes a Part of Creating a Lead-Free Home: Finding and replacing lead plumbing should be considered as a part of removing all lead from your home. This can be expensive, but removing lead permanently is the safest option. ESWA is committed to helping customers remove lead pipes.
ESWA does not offer any customer assistance programs for replacing customer service laterals at this time.
Because providing our customers with safe, clean drinking water is our core mission, ESWA does more than follow EPA and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) regulations for the testing of lead in tap water.
In addition to routine water quality monitoring, source water protection, and effective water treatment that ensures the water coming into homes meets or exceeds all state and federal quality standards, we offer on-demand testing year-round for customers with concerns about lead in their tap water.
If we test your tap water and find lead levels higher than 15 parts per billion (15 ppb), ESWA will offer help in locating possible sources of lead in your plumbing.
How Testing for Customers Works
When customers concerned about lead call 610.258.7181, our customer service representatives will schedule a visit to the home so that a sample can be collected from the tap. This is the only way to tell if there is a lead issue within the customer’s home plumbing.
Once a sample is collected, ESWA’s water quality specialists will send the samples to a water testing lab. Upon testing, ESWA will provide customers with the results. If there is an issue, ESWA returns to the home to help identify the source of lead. Once the source of lead is found, we can recommend options for reducing the lead. These free services are provided as a part of our mission to deliver safe water to all customers and are not part of regulatory testing required under the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule.
Testing Under the Lead and Copper Rule Regulation
Water providers like ESWA are required by law to test the water system for lead every three years. This testing is designed to ensure that corrosion control treatment is working. Testing has shown that corrosion control treatment is effective and keeps levels of lead in water below EPA standards in most homes with service pipes made of lead or other lead plumbing. Some homes without a water service pipe made of lead may still be at risk for elevated lead levels because of loose lead solder or older brass valves containing lead. All customers should take time to check pipes for lead.