Lead Information

We are replacing customer-owned lead service lines at no cost to our customers.

York Water has replaced all known company-owned lead service lines. There is no measurable lead in the our water supply, but if your home or business was built before 1934, there may be lead in your customer-owned service line.

In 2016, York Water began a large-scale effort asking our customers to identify the type of service line material serving their homes or commercial buildings so that we can replace all service lines that are made of lead. If your service line material is lead, The York Water Company team will schedule the replacement of the service line – at no cost to you, our customer.

To comply with requirements of the U.S. EPA’s proposed Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) and to do our part to remove any remaining lead service lines from our territory, The York Water Company is undertaking a project to identify the service line material type on both the company-side and the customer-owned side for all of our customers.

Many of our customers have already stepped up and shared their service line material. If you have not identified your service line material yet, please complete the Service Line Survey today.

Service Line Material Map

Our Service Line Material Map allows you to search for your property and see the material of both the company-owned and customer-owned service lines.

risks of lead and lead poisoning

It is important to minimize the intake of lead from dust inhalation, food, and water. Children are particularly susceptible to the health effects of lead poisoning. Lead is most commonly found in dust, paint, and contaminated soil. To a lesser extent, lead can also occur in tap water. When lead is detected in tap water, it usually comes from the plumbing in an older home or lead service line pipes. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain, repair, and replace the service lines.

If present, elevated levels of lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. York Water is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in plumbing components. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available here: www.epa.gov/safewater/lead.

Click here to view a printable lead information handout provided by The York Water Company.

symptoms of lead poisoning

Symptoms of lead poisoning include loss of appetite, headaches, stomach cramps, constipation, muscle weakness or joint pain, trouble sleeping, feeling tired or irritable. Most people with lead poisoning don’t look or feel sick.

helpful resources

Steps to Check your service line material

Step 1: Gather a key or a coin and a strong refrigerator magnet. Then, find your water meter.
The meter is usually located in a basement or in a meter pit outside. Look at the pipe that connects to your meter from the curb or the outside wall. If the pipe is copper/bronze in color, and may have green tarnish, the pipe is likely copper. If the pipe is white, it is likely plastic. If you have identified your service line material as copper or plastic, you can skip to Step 4 below

Step 2: Carefully scratch the pipe with the key or coin.
If the pipe is painted, gently scrape off the paint to expose the metal before you scratch it. Do not use a knife or other sharp tool. Take care not to make a hole in the pipe. If the pipe scratches easily and turns a shiny silver color, the pipe may be lead or galvanized steel.

Step 3: Place the magnet on the pipe.
If the magnet sticks, the pipe is galvanized steel. If the magnet does not stick, the pipe is likely a lead pipe. Note: A magnet will not stick to copper or plastic, however, these can be ruled out by color and the scratch test.

Step 4: Share your findings with York Water by completing the York Water Service Line Survey.

Click here to view a printable guide to check your service line material.

Lead FAQs

Yes. There are generally four areas where lead may be located in a home or business:

The water service line entering the building.
Leaded solder (made of 40% lead and prohibited for use on water pipes in 1986) on interior plumbing.
Brass fixtures that contain lead.
Leaded paint (which was banned in 1978) but may still be present in a home or building.

York Water will replace lead customer-owned service lines at no cost to you, the customer.

If a water test indicates that the drinking water drawn from a tap contains lead above 15 ppb (parts per billion), or if you would like to reduce potential lead at your tap, then you should take the following precautions:

Run your water to flush out lead. Run water for 15 to 30 seconds to flush lead from interior plumbing. If you have a lead service line, run the water for at least 3 minutes (about 3 gallons of water) if the water lines have not been used for more than 6 hours.
Use cold water for cooking and preparing baby formula.
Identify and replace plumbing fixtures containing lead.
Have an electrician check to see if wires are improperly grounded to your pipe.

Boiling water will not reduce lead. Your family doctor or pediatrician can test your child’s blood level for lead and provide information on the health effects of lead.

Here’s what we’re doing to reduce lead in our customers’ drinking water:

Corrosion Control Treatment

York Water provides corrosion control treatment. The treatment adjusts pH to help reduce the amount of lead that may leach out of customer-owned piping. You can learn about your water quality in the annual Consumer Confidence Report for your water system, available here.

Lead Service Line Replacement

York Water has replaced all previously identified company-owned lead service lines. We continue to replace them as our crews and certified contractors locate them. Since 2017, we have replaced over 1,900 company-owned lead service lines with copper lines.

Public Education Program

Early 1800s and 1900s: Lead was commonly used in plumbing applications across the United States because it was durable and stood up to moisture.

1928: The Lead Industries Association was created to promote the use of lead in products like pipes, pipe solder, and paint.

1933: Researchers began to more frequently publish findings that showed ingesting lead had adverse impacts on human health, especially the health of children. Articles were published in newspapers and popular magazines.

Pre-1940: The York Water Company stopped installing lead service lines.

1978: The United States banned the use of lead in consumer goods, but it was still used in pipes.

1990: The EPA passed the Lead & Copper Rule to help reduce the amount of lead present in the piping at a customer’s premise. The EPA also required lead testing in a sampling of houses by public water suppliers.

1992: York Water began corrosion control treatments in its water supply. The treatments, which are still applied today, adjust the pH of the water and help reduce the amount of lead that may leach out of customer-owned piping.