How to protect yourself? What can I do?

If you know or suspect that you have lead service lines or plumbing, there are ways to reduce your exposure to lead in your drinking water:

  • Run your water to flush out lead. If you haven’t used your water for several hours, run your cold tap for one minute before using your water for cooking or drinking. 
  • Use cold water for cooking and preparing baby formula. Lead dissolves more easily in hot water. Do not drink, cook with, or make baby formula using hot water.
  • Do not boil water to remove lead. Boiling water does not remove or reduce lead exposure.
  • Look for alternative sources or treatment of water. Use a water filter that is NSF 53 certified to remove lead from your water. Customers can also choose to drink bottled water.
  • Identify if your plumbing fixtures contain lead. Lead check swabs are available at hardware stores to help you detect lead on plumbing surfaces, such as solder and pipes. Consider replacing pipes and fixtures that contain lead.

Show All Answers

1. What is lead?
2. Is there lead in my water?
3. What is a lead service line?
4. What is the health impact of a lead service line?
5. Are there are other sources of lead in my water?
6. How to protect yourself? What can I do?
7. How do I know if I have a lead service line?
8. I’ve identified my service. Now what?
9. Are there other sources of information?