Field guide

Lead Service Lines: What the EPA's 2024 Rule Means for Your Home's Pipe

The EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, finalized in October 2024, require water systems to replace every lead service line within 10 years, with a replacement plan due November 1, 2027. The lead action level drops from 15 to 10 parts per billion. If your home was built before 1986, check your water system's public inventory to see whether your line is lead, galvanized, or unknown.

What changed in 2024

Lead pipes still connect millions of American homes to the water main. The EPA's estimate is about 9.2 million lead service lines, though a later review of state inventory filings put the number closer to 4 million. Either way, it is the largest source of lead in drinking water for the homes that have one, and the rule that governs it had not been seriously updated since 1991.

The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements were published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2024. Four things matter for a homeowner. First, water systems must find and replace all lead service lines within 10 years. Second, the lead action level, the concentration that forces a system to act, drops from 15 parts per billion to 10. The EPA's health goal for lead is zero, and the new level is a step toward it, not the destination. Third, systems completed their initial service line inventories in October 2024 and must publish them. Fourth, each system must have a finalized, public replacement plan by November 1, 2027, and then replace lines at a minimum average rate of 10 percent a year.

The money is real, and it is time limited. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law dedicated $15 billion to lead service line replacement through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The last round of that funding closed to applications September 30, 2026. The replacement deadline itself is unchanged: most systems have until December 31, 2037.

Whose pipe is it, anyway

A service line has two halves: the utility's side, from the main to the meter or curb stop, and the customer's side, from there into the house. For decades the split let each side point at the other. The 2024 rule ends that argument where the system has legal or physical access: it must replace both halves. Galvanized pipe downstream of a lead line counts too, because it can hold lead particles.

The rule is being challenged. The American Water Works Association sued in December 2024, arguing the 10-year deadline is not realistic, and in September 2025 called full replacement by 2037 unrealistic. Its cost estimate is more than $12,000 per line on average, which against 9.2 million lines puts the total above $100 billion. The EPA's own estimate is about $4,700 per line. The D.C. Circuit heard oral argument on September 30, 2026, and has not ruled. Until it does, the rule stands and the November 1, 2027 plan deadline is the date on the calendar.

For a homeowner the argument matters less than the inventory. Whether the deadline survives in full or gets trimmed, the systems have already mapped their lines, and the map is public.

What a homeowner should do now

Start with the inventory. Every public water system had to file one, and most post it on their website, searchable by address. It will list your line as lead, galvanized requiring replacement, non-lead, or unknown. Unknown is common: many systems know the material on the private side for only a fraction of properties. If yours is unknown, that is the answer to chase, not a reason to relax.

A plumber can settle it in one visit. At the meter or where the line enters the house, lead is unmistakable once you know the test: soft enough to scratch with a coin, dull gray outside, shiny silver where scratched, and a magnet will not stick. Copper is the color of a penny and a magnet will not stick either, so color is what separates them. Galvanized steel is gray too, but a magnet sticks hard. Do not rely on the scratch test alone if the pipe is painted or corroded.

If the line is lead, ask the water system when your street is scheduled and whether the program covers the customer side. If you are replacing it yourself, replace the whole line in one job. Partial replacement, new copper joined to old lead, disturbs the lead and can raise lead levels at the tap for months. That is exactly why the rule requires full replacement.

The plumber's part

Full-line replacement is normally copper or HDPE from the main to the meter, with a permit and an inspection, and the trench or the trenchless pull done in a day. The plumber's job is the identification, the permit, and the connection. The water system's job is the schedule and the funding. The homeowner's job is the inventory lookup and the phone call. None of the three is complicated. What has been missing is the deadline, and since October 2024 there is one.

Frequently asked questions

How do I know if my service line is lead?

Check your water system's public lead service line inventory first; systems completed their initial inventories in October 2024. A plumber can also confirm it at the meter: lead is soft, dull gray, and scratches shiny, and a magnet will not stick to it.

Who pays to replace a lead service line?

It varies by system. The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law set aside $15 billion for lead service line replacement through state revolving funds, and many systems cover both the utility side and the customer side. Check your water system's replacement plan for who pays what.

Is a partial lead line replacement safe?

No, and the rule does not allow it as the end state. Disturbing a lead line can spike lead levels at the tap, and the rule requires full replacement of both the utility-owned and customer-owned portions where the system has access.

When does the replacement have to happen?

Water systems must have a finalized, public replacement plan by November 1, 2027, and then replace lines at the fastest feasible rate, generally within 10 years. For most systems the deadline lands December 31, 2037.