Safe Drinking Water Act 

In 1974, the U.S. Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires the Environmental Protection Agency to determine the safe levels of contaminants in drinking water. The safe level of lead in drinking water is zero.

Congress later amended the act — effective after June 1986 — to prohibit using pipes, solder or flux that contain lead in public water systems or in plumbing in facilities that provide water for human consumption.

Federal Lead and Copper Rule

In 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency published the lead and copper rule to minimize these heavy metals in drinking water. The rule established a maximum contaminant level goal of zero for lead in drinking water and a treatment technique to reduce corrosion of lead and copper pipe materials within water distribution systems.

Rule Revisions

In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency revised the Lead and Copper Rule to improve protection of public health. The revisions focus on:

• Identifying and removing lead service lines.
• Providing increased levels of protection from lead exposure in drinking water to children at schools and childcare facilities.
• Providing information about lead in drinking water to the community.

The revised rules require water systems to develop a publicly available inventory of public and private water service lines by Oct. 16, 2024.

Resources

For more information, see these resources from the Environmental Protection Agency:

• Safe Drinking Water Act page
• Lead and Copper Rule page
• Infographic — Improving Lead Sampling to Better Protect Public Health
• News Release — EPA Finalizes Historic Action to Better Protect Children's Health

Harmful Effects

Lead in drinking water has the following negative effects, according to the Environmental Protection Agency: 

Children

Even low levels of lead in the blood of children can result in:

• Behavior and learning problems
• Lower IQ and hyperactivity
• Slowed growth
• Hearing problems
• Anemia

In rare cases, ingestion of lead can cause seizures, coma and death.

Pregnant Women

Lead can accumulate in our bodies over time, where it is stored in bones along with calcium. During pregnancy, lead is released from bones as maternal calcium and is used to help form the bones of the fetus. This is particularly true if a woman does not have enough dietary calcium. Lead also can cross the placental barrier exposing the fetus to lead. This can result in serious effects to the mother and her developing fetus, including:

• Reduced growth of the fetus
• Premature birth

All Adults

Adults exposed to lead can suffer from:

• Cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure, and hypertension
• Decreased kidney function
• Reproductive problems (in both men and women)

Resources

For more information, see these resources from the Environmental Protection Agency:

• Learn About Lead webpage

The town has records dating to the mid-1930s that call for copper or plastic water service lines and not lead. Additionally, lead service lines have not been noted when working throughout the system or in discussions with local plumbers familiar with the area.

Homes and buildings built before 1987 may have lead service lines.

The town is working to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s revised requirements to the Lead and Copper Rule. To follow the federal regulations, the Hillsborough Utilities Department is developing an inventory of all water service line materials in the community by Oct. 16, 2024. This will help identify any lead service lines.

Community Help

For some properties, town staff will need community members’ help in identifying or correcting the materials of their private water service lines. Private lines are those between the building and water meter. In this inventory, the service line is under 2 inches in diameter.

• Please check the town’s Water Service Line Map to see if your building’s service line is marked as unknown. 

• If the town does not have information about the customer side of your water service line, please determine the material by checking inspection reports for your home or building or by performing simple tests on the Identify Your Service Line Material page.

• Once you have identified your pipe material, complete the Water Service Line Material Form. Attach documentation of your service line material, such as a photo, and any repairs made to the service line after 1986 for homes or buildings built before 1987.

Use the Water Service Line Map to see if the service line material at your property has been identified. 

Enter your address in the search field at the top of the map. Your property will become highlighted on the map.

A circle at the property will display materials for both sides of the service line — utility and customer sides. See the map’s legend for the color coding of your circle.

• The circle’s left side represents the water service line owned by the town.
• The circle’s right side represents the water service line owned by the customer.

If the material is unknown or incorrect, the town needs your help in identifying the material or reporting the correct material. A circle with gray on the right side means the town does not have information on the water service line for that property.

Lead particles can attach to galvanized pipes, which were commonly used for water mains several decades ago. The town has a program to replace galvanized water mains on the public side of the water meter with newer standard materials when galvanized pipes are found.

Homes and buildings may have internal plumbing materials that contain lead. Testing can determine whether lead is in your drinking water.

The town offers free water testing to determine if lead is in your drinking water. For testing, utilities staff must be given access to the interior of your building. Before requesting a water test, please check the Water Service Line Map to see if the material of your property’s water service line has been identified.

Testing performed by commercial laboratories generally costs between $20 and $100. 

For more information, see these resources from the state and Environmental Protection Agency:

• Certified Drinking Water Commercial Laboratories
• Home Water Testing
• Protect Your Tap: A Quick Check for Lead

Customers who suspect they have lead pipes or copper pipes with lead-based solder are encouraged to take the following additional precautions to limit exposure: 

• Flush water lines after a period of stagnation. For guidance, see the Stale Water section on the About Water page. To minimize waste, consider using the released water to flush toilets or water plants. 

• Purchase a filtering water pitcher certified to remove lead.

• Purchase a whole house filtering or treatment device certified to remove lead. Make sure it is properly installed and maintained. Note that a filter prevents the town from conducting bacteriological tests of a property’s water lines should a water quality issue occur. This is because the water will have undergone secondary treatment, and test results would not provide data on the water Hillsborough delivers. 

• Regularly clean the screen or aerator on faucets. Sediment, debris and lead particles can collect.