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Do lead pipes deliver water to your NYC building? Check this map.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Nov 19, 2024
Modified Nov 19, 2024
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Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Nov 19, 2024
Modified Nov 19, 2024
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An estimated 30% of pipes delivering water to New York City buildings may have lead – and now there’s a map to help determine if your building is affected.
The New York League of Conservation Voters created the map using Department of Environmental Protection data. It shows there are 124,197 lead pipes in the city and 571,351 lines that do not contain lead. There's also 124,917 pipes that could contain lead. The map’s release comes one month after President Joe Biden’s administration announced that all lead pipes carrying drinking water in the country must be replaced in 10 years.
“If you have a relatively older home, [or] the plumbing is before the 1980s, you definitely have a concern for sure, and those should always be looked at,” Joshua Klainberg, senior vice president at New York League of Conservation Voters, said.
The DEP estimates that replacing all of New York City’s lead pipes will cost $2 billion – or $10,000 to $15,000 per line. Homeowners and landlords are responsible for replacing the pipes.
The map shows that lead pipe hotspots are concentrated in low-income neighborhoods, such as Jamaica, Queens, and Pelham-Throgs Neck in the Bronx, where approximately 25% of each neighborhood's drinking water pipes contain lead. Just over 40% of lead lines are located in disadvantaged communities, which the state’s climate law defines as communities with low to moderate income households burdened by pollution. Overall, residents living in single or multi-family homes built before 1961 – the year lead pipes were banned in New York City – are most likely to have lead service lines, according to the New York League of Conservation Voters.
The 2014 water crisis, in Flint, Mich., drew widespread attention to the dangers of lead pipes. Residents complained of weird-tasting, smelly water. Some said they suffered from hair loss. Elevated lead levels were detected in children.
The EPA estimates that up to 9 million homes are served by lead pipes across the country. There is no level of lead that is deemed safe to human health. When the dense, heavy metal enters the body, it can make its way to every organ in the body, resulting in impaired brain function and decreased fertility. However, the presence of lead service lines does not necessarily mean lead is leaching into the water supply. Proper maintenance and water treatment can mitigate any risk.
New Yorkers can order a free testing kit from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection to check lead levels in the water. The agency also has information on what to do if lead is detected in your water. Qualifying low-income New York City residents can apply for grants to cover the cost of work to replace lead pipes.
The most accurate way to assess lead exposure is through blood tests. Infants, fed with powder formula, are at the highest risk.
“If you're going to add lead-containing water to the [baby formula] powder, then you're directly feeding young infants, potentially a source of lead,” Dr. Morri Markowitz, director of the Lead Poisoning Prevention and Treatment Program at Montefiore Medical Center, said.
Klainberg said New Yorkers shouldn’t panic if their home has lead pipes for drinking water. He recommended always cooking with cold water, because hot water is more likely to cause lead to leach out of pipes.
Filters are also available that extract lead.
“There are a lot of things that people can do to protect themselves immediately before the time comes to actually have that pipe replaced,” Klainberg said.
New York City water travels 125 miles lead-free from 19 reservoirs and three lakes spread out over a 2,000-square-mile watershed in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley. Last year, New Yorkers consumed almost 370 billion gallons of drinking water.
“New York City has some of the best drinking water on earth and that came with some serious and significant investments in our watershed,” Klainberg said. “With every lead pipe that remains in the ground there, that is a diminishment in our return on investment of all the money that we've been putting out there to protect our water supply."
This story has been updated to correct data on the types of service lines citywide.
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new york city
Health and Science
Rosemary Misdary
Rosemary is health & science reporter. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 646-544-9524.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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