Is Your Drinking Water Traveling Through Toxic Lead Pipes?

We often don't think about what might be in our drinking water when get fill our glasses from the faucet. Older houses in the Grand Rapids area very likely have lead service lines supplying their homes. As the water travels through these pipes, toxic lead could be getting in to your water.

Is Lead in My Water Dangerous?

Lead is harmful to your health. It can lead to anemia, kidney problems, and even brain damage. Children under the age of six and pregnant women are at the highest risk of harm. You can have lead poisoning and not look or feel sick. A blood test is the only way to determine if there is lead in your blood.

How Does Lead Harm Children?

If lead is swallowed by children, while their bodies and nervous systems are still developing, it can cause issues. Lead in their blood can lead to problems with:

Growth rates
Nervous system development
Learning
Behavior
Speech & Hearing

The American Water Work Association produced this video on the dangers of lead in our water...

How Do I Know If I Have Lead Service Lines?

Map: City of Grand Rapids

The City of Grand Rapids has a tool that enables residents to check to see if their property is hooked up with a lead service line. The data used for the map relies on historical data, like plumbing and tap records. If you live in the City of Grand Rapids, you can search to see if your home has a lead service line on their website.

Can the Lead Service Lines be Replaced?

On Tuesday night, February 22nd, 2022, the City of Grand Rapids signed off on a $60 million project to improve the infrastructure of their aging water system.

The city is using bonds to fund the projects. $20 million will be used to replace pumps at a substation. Other funds will be used to replace some of the lead service lines and water mains.

The state of Michigan has mandated that all lead lines are replaced in 20 years.

WXMI Fox 17 recently did this report on the lead water service lines and their future replacement...