Most people don’t realize this, but you could be drinking water through pipes installed when Teddy Roosevelt was president. In fact, those pipes are probably made of lead.
If you live in New York City, there’s a high chance your water passes through lead pipes on its way to your faucet. The water starts clean, traveling 125 miles from upstate reservoirs. But between those Catskill watersheds and your kitchen sink, it can absorb lead from corroding pipes, solder, or fixtures. This is why professional lead inspection in NYC has become increasingly important for building owners and residents.
Why Was Lead Used in the First Place?
Lead has been used in plumbing for centuries. The word plumbing derives from Latin plumbum, meaning lead. Ancient Romans built extensive aqueduct systems with lead pipes, despite the health consequences we understand today.
In New York City, lead service lines were permitted and often required from 1858 until they were banned in 1961. For over a century, the city mandated lead pipes for water service lines connecting buildings to water mains. Lead was inexpensive, malleable, and exceptionally durable. Health risks were either not understood or not adequately addressed in building codes.
Even after the 1961 ban on lead service lines, lead solder continued in plumbing until federal law prohibited it in 1987. Homes built or renovated before the late 1980s may contain lead components even without full lead pipes.
Currently, an estimated 124,000+ confirmed lead service lines exist in NYC, with another 125,000 unknown pipes that may also contain lead. Approximately one in five New Yorkers could be drinking water that passes through lead pipes.
How Does Lead Get Into Your Water?
NYC’s water is virtually lead-free when it leaves upstate reservoirs and treatment facilities. The city invests approximately $10 million annually in anticorrosive treatments, including sodium hydroxide to raise pH levels and phosphoric acid to form protective films inside pipes. These measures significantly reduce the risk of lead leaching into the water supply. However, lead water testing remains essential, especially in older buildings with aging plumbing, to detect potential lead contamination at the tap and ensure household drinking water remains safe.
Chemical treatments, however, can only do so much when water remains in contact with lead pipes for extended periods.
Lead enters drinking water through corrosion. When water sits in contact with lead pipes, solder, or fixtures, it dissolves small amounts of lead. Water sitting overnight or during work hours absorbs more lead than freshly flowing water.
Hot water accelerates this process considerably. Heat increases corrosion rates, making cooking with or drinking water from the hot tap inadvisable. Hot water can contain substantially higher lead concentrations than cold water from the same fixture.
What makes this particularly concerning is that lead is colorless, tasteless, and odorless. Visual inspection provides no indication of lead content. Water may appear perfectly clear while containing lead levels that pose health risks. This is precisely why professional lead inspection in NYC involves laboratory testing rather than visual assessment.
What Does Lead Do to Your Body?
Lead is a heavy metal that accumulates in the body over time, stored in bones alongside calcium. Once present, it can remain for years or decades, slowly releasing back into the bloodstream.
Effects on children are particularly severe. Children’s developing brains and nervous systems are extremely vulnerable to lead exposure.
Even low levels can cause:
- Learning disabilities
- Attention deficit and behavioral problems
- Impaired hearing
- Slowed growth and development
- Nervous system damage
- In severe cases, seizures, coma, or death
Children absorb lead far more efficiently than adults, up to 50% of ingested lead compared to approximately 10% in adults. Young children’s tendency to put their hands and objects in their mouths increases their risk of ingesting lead-contaminated dust or water.
Infants consuming formula prepared with lead-contaminated tap water face an especially high risk. The EPA estimates that drinking water can account for 40% to 60% of total lead exposure for formula-fed infants, compared to about 20% for most other individuals.
Pregnant women and fetuses are also highly vulnerable. Lead crosses the placental barrier, meaning maternal exposure during pregnancy can result in premature birth, low birth weight, developmental delays, and increased risk of learning disabilities in children.
Adults experience significant health effects as well. Long-term lead exposure increases the risk of:
- Hypertension and cardiovascular disease
- Kidney damage and disease
- Nervous system disorders
- Decreased fertility in both men and women
- Memory and concentration difficulties
- Stroke
The CDC currently uses 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL) of blood as the reference level that triggers public health intervention for children. However, research demonstrates that even levels below this threshold can cause harm. There is no established safe level of lead exposure.
Also Read: Lead Poisoning in Pets: Symptoms and Prevention
Where Are Lead Pipes Most Commonly Found?
You obviously won’t find lead pipes in all NYC buildings, but certain properties face a significantly higher risk. Professional lead inspection in NYC focuses on these high-risk categories:
- Single-family homes and 2-4 unit buildings constructed before 1961
- Any building with plumbing installed before 1987
- Properties with smaller service lines
- Pre-war buildings
So, while lead service lines are distributed throughout the city, they’re particularly concentrated in older residential areas of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and parts of Manhattan. The main challenge is that many service line materials are listed as unknown in city records. Without professional testing or visual inspection during excavation, determining pipe composition with certainty is impossible.
What You Can Do to Reduce Exposure
If you live in a building constructed before 1987, these steps can help reduce lead exposure:
1. Flush Your Pipes Before Use
When water has remained stagnant for 6+ hours, overnight or during work hours, run cold water for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using it for drinking or cooking. After the water runs cold, continue running for an additional 15 seconds. This flushing process removes water that has been in extended contact with lead pipes.
2. Use Only Cold Water For Consumption and Cooking
Never cook with or drink hot tap water. This is because hot water increases lead leaching from pipes and fixtures. When hot water is needed for beverages, heat cold tap water to the desired temperature.
3. Install Certified Filtration Systems
Water filters must be certified to remove lead by independent testing organizations such as NSF International. Look for NSF/ANSI Standard 53 certification for lead reduction. Pitcher filters, faucet-mount units, and under-sink systems are available options.
4. Get Water Testing
New York City provides free lead testing kits through the 311 helpline. Testing protocols include first-draw samples and post-flush samples, which together indicate whether the building has a lead contamination issue.
5. Complete Pipe Replacement
A permanent resolution requires replacing lead service lines and plumbing with safer materials, such as copper or PEX piping. Full service line replacement typically costs $10,000-$15,000 or more. Property owners are responsible for the section extending from the water main to their building.
The good news, however, is that funding assistance is available through multiple sources. New York State recently allocated nearly $90 million for lead service line replacement, including $28 million designated for NYC properties. Federal funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides additional support, though these programs do not cover total replacement costs.
One critical aspect to take into consideration is that a complete line replacement is essential. Partial replacement can temporarily increase lead levels by disturbing the protective scale that develops inside older pipes.
How to Get Your Building Inspected
If you are uncertain whether your building contains lead pipes, the first step is a professional assessment.
NYC’s interactive lead service line map provides initial information about whether buildings are flagged as having lead pipes, possible lead pipes, or unknown pipe material. However, city records are incomplete, and unknown”designations do not indicate safety.
Professional lead inspection in NYC can help determine whether building plumbing contains lead components and assess the risk to occupants.
This is particularly important for:
- Landlords and property managers with legal obligations to tenants
- Buildings housing young children or pregnant residents
- Property owners planning renovations
Lead inspection in NYC requires laboratory testing to provide accurate results. Visual inspection alone cannot determine lead content or concentration levels in drinking water.
Get Professional Lead Testing and Inspection Today!
Lead contamination in drinking water is a genuine health risk in New York City, particularly for older buildings. While water is largely clean at the source, lead can enter through corroded pipes between the reservoir and residential taps.
No safe level of lead exposure exists, and children are at greatest risk. However, concrete steps can reduce risk immediately: pipe flushing, using cold water exclusively for consumption, water filtration, and regular testing.
For property owners and residents who need to determine whether their building contains lead in plumbing or drinking water, Manhattan Lead is who you call. We offer comprehensive lead inspection in NYC for both residential and commercial properties. Our testing protocols identify lead sources in plumbing systems, quantify exposure levels, and provide clear guidance on mitigation options.
Lead contaminated water is too large of a risk to ignore. Give us a call today and let’s get to the root cause.
