Let’s Talk Lead!

Lead can enter drinking water from lead pipes or lead-based solder on water pipes. This can occur when pipes containing lead corrode, especially where the water is acidic or has low mineral content. The federal Lead and Copper Rule requires a public water system to test tap water from sites likely to have plumbing containing lead. If more than 10 percent of tap water tested exceed the lead action level of 0.015 milligrams per liter, then a public water system is required to notify residents and take steps to reduce lead levels in the public drinking water supply.

Lead can also leach into water inside the home from corroding brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and fixtures with lead solder, particularly when running hot water. Even if you get your water from a private well, there may still be a concern about lead in your water if the plumbing in your home contains lead solder or lead materials. Homes built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes, fixtures and solder.

Homes built after 1986 have “lead-free” plumbing, but still can contain trace amounts of lead that can dissolve in water. You may reduce lead in your water by only using cold water taps for drinking and food preparation and running water for at least 30 seconds or until the water is cold before use (see Steps to Reduce Lead in Drinking Water below).

Bottled water suppliers must routinely test their water supply for lead. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has established a maximum contaminant level of 0.005 mg/L for lead in bottled drinking water.

Check your home for lead pipes - click to watch a video and send Nyack Water your information! 

• Water leaving our plant does not contain lead. Nyack Water does not produce lead in our drinking water

• Nyack Water minimizes the risk of lead leaching from your homes pipes and faucets by using PH measures to neutralize acids that cause leaching. (When pH levels drop below 7.0, water becomes acidic which can cause lead to leach from pipes and faucets.)

• Consumer water lines and fixtures are the risk.

• Nyack Water is proactively investing in our infrastructure. 

Business Owners:

Nyack Water Department is conducting an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated Lead Service Line Inventory. Part of the inventory is determining the material of the privately owned portion (customer-owned) of the water service line. If the material of your service line is unknow, it is possible that it could contain lead.

Please contact Nyack Water Department at 845-358-0548 ext. 4 to discuss scheduling an appointment for your business or home to be inspected and inventoried, as soon as possible.