Millions of Americans still receive drinking water through lead service lines, even after years of warnings about the health risks. The EPA says lead pipes are often the most significant source of lead in drinking water, especially in older homes and cities. The agency also states that there is no known safe level of lead in a child’s blood.

Lead pipes are often the biggest source of lead in drinking water.

Why Lead in Water Is So Dangerous

Lead does not belong in the water people drink, cook with, or use to mix infant formula. According to the EPA, exposure can harm children’s brains and nervous systems, contribute to learning and behavior problems, and create risks during pregnancy. In adults, it can affect the kidneys, blood pressure, and reproductive health.

Drinking water can account for a significant share of a person’s total lead exposure, and the share can be even higher for infants.

Lead exposure can harm learning, behavior, and development.

Lead Pipes Remain a National Problem

This danger is not limited to one city. NRDC reported that EPA survey results estimate about 9.2 million lead service lines are still in use.

Earthjustice wrote that those lines deliver drinking water to an estimated 22 million people.

EDF says tens of millions of people still get water through these pipes, and warns that families are often left with costs they cannot easily afford.

Millions of lead service lines still remain in use across the United States.

Communities Cannot Afford More Delay

The scale of the threat remains alarming. In 2025, NRDC said EPA data showed water systems serving more than 250 million people had reported problematic lead levels between 2021 and 2024. That does not mean every tap tested that high. It does mean the danger is still widespread, and many households may not know what is coming from their faucets.

Flint, Michigan’s water crisis exposed the deadly danger of aging lead infrastructure and became a national warning about what can happen when safe drinking water is not protected.

The EPA Must Accelerate Lead Pipe Replacement

There is a path forward. Earthjustice reports that updated federal rules now require almost all lead pipes to be replaced within a decade, with billions already set aside to support the work.

That is progress.

It is not enough if enforcement weakens or replacement slows. The EPA must defend strong lead standards, speed up removal, and ensure the hardest-hit communities are not left behind.

Families should not have to guess whether their water is safe. They should not have to wait years for basic protection from a toxic metal that has already harmed too many children.

Click below to sign the petition and urge the EPA to accelerate lead pipe removal across the nation.