Lead in Tap Water
Lead is a toxic metal that usually enters drinking water from corrosion of lead service lines, solder, and household plumbing rather than from the source water.
Lead across 3,792 city records
Each bar counts cities whose system reported a 90th-percentile result in that range. The dashed line is the 15 µg/L federal action level. A position is not a verdict on the water.
- 2,485 detected, plotted below
- 1,258 below the lab’s reporting limit
- 49 no result on record
Corrosion of lead pipes, solder, brass fixtures, most often within home plumbing.
- 1Lead service lines
- 2Lead solder
- 3Brass fixtures
Most affected: Infants and young children, and pregnant people; lead affects neurological development.
The 90th percentile of sampled homes
Utilities sample taps in homes most likely to have lead. If more than 10% of samples exceed 15 µg/L, the system must take action.
Reported here from EPA Lead and Copper Rule 90th-percentile results. Your home’s result can differ; confirm with a certified tap test if you have older plumbing. PurityMap publishes this substance per water system on individual system and city-report pages, where the source dataset provides a value.
- Above reference
- Evidence exceeds a reference level.
- Detected
- This substance was found in the monitoring record. Being present is not the same as being above a reference level, and this signal does not say which.
- Not detected
- Somebody looked and the laboratory reported nothing above its reporting limit. This is a result, and it is not the same as nobody looking.
- Not monitored
- No sampling for this substance has been reported for this system. Nothing is known either way, and an empty row is not a clean one.
16 cities above the action level
43 other states on record have no city above the action level. Open any state to see its cities.
- AliquippaPA→
- AuroraIL→
- BartlettIL→
- DaytonOH→
- Grosse Ile TownshipMI→
- HibbingMN→
- InksterMI→
- Lake ForestIL→
- LemontIL→
- LockportIL→
- Morton GroveIL→
- North Salt LakeUT→
- SmithfieldUT→
- TaylorMI→
- Two RiversNC→
- Vera PowerWA→
Above the action level is a regulatory trigger for the system, not a measurement of any single home.
What can carry a lead reduction claim
- Reverse osmosis
Semi-permeable membrane separation removing dissolved minerals, heavy metals, and persistent fluorinated chemicals down to 0.0001 microns.
- NSF/ANSI 53NSF/ANSI 53 lead-certified filters
- Replacing lead service lines
Boiling does not remove a dissolved chemical compound and can concentrate it. Many pitcher and refrigerator filters carry no verified claim for a compound like this at all.
A finding establishes the need, the need names the capability, the capability requires a verified certification. No product appears before that sequence completes. Filter Finder →
Frequently asked
Answers cite the same records as the page. How PurityMap analyzes water data
Lead is a toxic metal that usually enters drinking water from corrosion of lead service lines, solder, and household plumbing rather than from the source water.
The federal reference is the action level of 15 µg/L (90th percentile). It triggers treatment steps; it is not an enforceable maximum contaminant level. The health-based goal (MCLG) is 0. PurityMap reads every measurement against its stated benchmark and never sets its own.
Lead service lines, Lead solder, Brass fixtures.
There is no known safe level of lead. In children even low exposure can affect development and behavior; in adults it is linked to blood-pressure and kidney effects. Because lead is usually added at the tap, a system-wide result can understate risk in an individual home with older plumbing.
Treatment technologies commonly certified to reduce Lead include Reverse osmosis, NSF/ANSI 53 lead-certified filters, Replacing lead service lines. Match the exact certified claim to your water before buying. Holding a format is not the same as holding the claim.
In PurityMap's published record, Lead was detected in 2,485 cities (of 3,743 with a result) across 51 states, with 16 above the federal action level. This is the scope of our record, not a national prevalence estimate.