Report: Almost 30 Percent of the Drinking Water Service Lines in New York City Are or May be Made of Lead

Following the historic announcement by the federal Environmental Protection Agency of the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, a member of the NYC Coalition to End Lead Poisoning, released an interactive map and a comprehensive report to help New York City residents determine if the building they live in (i.e., small apartment building or a single-family home) or visit or work (i.e., a house of worship or small office) has a drinking water service line that is or may be made of lead. 

NYLCVEF’s map can also be searched by neighborhood, borough and legislative district, which will enable residents and public officials to advocate for themselves and their neighborhoods.

NYLCVEF’s map is an easy-to-use tool for New Yorkers to quickly see if they are at risk.  

The map can be found here.

The report can be found here.

Key findings:

• Almost 30 percent of the service lines in the city are made of lead or possible lead. 14 percent are “known” lead service lines and 15 percent are deemed by NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to be of an “unknown” material, which the report points out should be considered “possible lead” until DEP determines otherwise. Combined, this means that an estimated 1.3 million New Yorkers, or one in six, may be drinking water that passes through a lead or possible lead pipe.

• The top ten neighborhoods with known LSL’s are: Jamaica, Queens, and Pelham – Throgs Neck, the Bronx (25%), Southwest Queens (23%), Ridgewood-Forest Hills (22%), West Queens (22%), LI City-Astoria (21%), Southeast Queens (19%). Fordham – Bronx Park (18%), Greenpoint (18%), and Kingsbridge – Riverdale (17%).

• 41% of known Lead Service Lines citywide are located in environmental justice or “disadvantaged communities” (DAC’s) as they are referred to under state law.

• The distribution of known LSLs in DACs are located in Queens (39%), Brooklyn (26%), Bronx (26%), Staten Island (6%) and Manhattan (3%). 

On October 8, 2024, the federal EPA issued the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements requiring more rigorous testing of drinking water and a lower threshold requiring communities to take action to protect people from lead exposure in water. In addition, the final rule improves communication within communities so that families are better informed about the risk of lead in drinking water, the location of lead pipes, and plans for replacing them. A key part of this rule is the historic requirement for the vast majority of water systems to replace all lead service lines within 10 years starting in 2027.

According to the EPA, cities like Benton Harbor, MI, and Green Bay, WI, replaced their lead service lines in less than 10 years. Other systems like Detroit, MI, Pittsburgh, PA, Denver, CO, Milwaukee, WI, and Saint Paul, MN, have already started this work and are on pace to replace every lead service line within the next 10 years.

While the NYC DEP has begun some replacement work on lead service lines — which are considered privately owned — the pace falls far short of what will be required to comply with the new lead and copper rule, this report calls on the City Council to create a program to remove all lead service lines over a ten year period at no cost to New Yorkers. A centralized, mandatory replacement program would reduce the costs for lead service line replacements through economies of scale. It will also be less disruptive to New York City neighborhoods that will have mass-scale replacements. To ensure high quality work, lead pipe replacements should be conducted by union labor, pay prevailing wage, and where possible utilize apprenticeship programs to open employment opportunities to local community members.

This work can be accomplished through a variety of federal and state grants and financing that are available to help pay for lead service line replacements. Chief among the federal funding sources is $15 billion in the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). New York City is expected to receive $120 million from BIL. Unfortunately, this amount of funding will not be adequate. DEP estimates that when its inventory is completed, there will be 150,000 lead pipes in need of replacement, making the total cost of replacement $2 billion. In other words, BIL funding will only cover just 6% of what is needed, which is a start, but far short of what the city needs. The Congress and President as well as the Governor and state legislature must allocate new funding to replace lead service lines to help New York City to fully fund this federal mandate with public dollars. 

The map and report are a follow up to a 2023 report by NYC Coalition to End Lead Poisoning. 

About lead exposure

NYC has the largest unfiltered water supply in the United States and its water is delivered from the upstate reservoir system virtually lead-free. A drinking water service line is the pipe that delivers water from the water main in the middle of a street to a building. A pathway of lead exposure is a service line that is made of lead, or has lead components, that leaches lead into the water due to corrosion or physical disturbance. In 1961, the City banned lead service line installations.

There is no safe level of lead exposure as even small doses can affect almost every organ and system in the human body, often with irreversible effects. People of all ages face health risks from lead exposure, but fetuses and young children are most susceptible to the adverse effects of lead. Lead exposure is particularly dangerous in drinking water because it is colorless, tasteless, and odorless.

“From 1858 until 1961, New York City not only permitted the use of lead pipes but at times encouraged and required them,” said Josh Klainberg, Senior Vice President for the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. “New York City has at the very least a moral obligation to take fiscal and logistical responsibility for the replacement of all lead pipes, a problem that it created through a toxic, 103 year-old legacy. It is our hope that the NYC Council steps up once again and cleans up this mess by introducing a local law offering its residents a free, city-run program to remove lead service lines.”