Minnesota map shows whether your home has a lead pipe

Environment

A new online tool for Minnesota is part of federal and state goals to get the lead out of plumbing by the mid-2030s.

By Chloe Johnson

Minnesotans can use a new tool to check whether a lead pipe sends water into their home — part of a push by the Biden administration and state officials to remove lead plumbing from the drinking water system over the next decade.

The map, available online at maps.umn.edu/LSL/, covers all community water systems in Minnesota except for the small community of Hartland, in rural Freeborn County.

The map identifies 88,368 lead lines across the state today, but there are gaps in the data — the status of 281,233 lines across Minnesota, or about 19% of the total, is still unknown.

It does not show information about private well users.

Residents whose homes have lead lines should expect to hear from their water system about next steps to remove them, Andrea Ahneman, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Health, wrote in an email.

Lead is a neurotoxic metal that can cause developmental problems and nervous system damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It was also widely used for decades in plumbing, and may linger in many older fixtures, including service lines that connect homes to water mains.

No amount of lead is safe to consume, but the EPA has an “action level” of 15 parts per billion that is the trigger for water systems to reach out to customers and potentially adjust their treatment methods. The agency has proposed lowering that level to 10 ppb.

According to the data collected by MDH, the five utilities with the highest number of lead lines on private property are:

The count includes galvanized steel service lines, which are not solid lead but can increase the risk of lead leaching into drinking water as their coatings corrode. Minneapolis had the highest proportion of lead and galvanized service lines of any community — about 39%, according to MDH’s map.

Having a lead service line doesn’t always mean the water in your home is tainted. Many water systems, including that of Minneapolis, add chemicals that coat the inside of water pipes to stop lead from leaching out.

Minneapolis’ water system spokesman, Matthew Croaston, wrote in an email that the city’s system has never exceeded federal lead limits, and that residents can request a free home lead testing kit online.

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An individual home may still have unsafe levels of lead, which could come from plumbing fixtures inside the house.

Replacing service lines has traditionally been the property owner’s responsibility. The work can cost about $8,000. An injection of federal and state money is now helping to cover that cost.

In May, the EPA announced that Minnesota would receive $86 million to help with lead line identification and replacement. Part of those funds helped to build the new online map — water systems were required to send in their data for the map by October. A federal rule change also requires water systems to replace these lines by 2037.

Minnesota also earmarked $240 million for line replacement last year, and set a statewide goal of eliminating the lead pipes by 2033. That is being aided by an additional $215 million over the next five years from the federal Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act.

Ahneman said homeowners cannot apply directly for this money, which will be distributed to water systems. The utilities will reach out to homeowners about the replacement schedule.

In the meantime, MDH recommends that people test their water for lead. If they’re concerned about it, users should run their water for 3 to 5 minutes before using it for drinking or cooking, and only use cold water for consumption.

Chloe Johnson covers climate change and environmental health issues for the Star Tribune.

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