FAQs about Lead in Drinking Water

Columbus has a very effective corrosion protection program. To prevent corrosive conditions that could cause leaching of lead, certified water operators add zinc orthophosphate to the treated water at a cost of $1,800 a day. This creates a coating inside the pipes to serve as barrier between the pipes and water. This protects public health and the city's infrastructure by avoiding corrosive conditions that could lead to premature pipe failure.

Testing is done to ensure this corrosion protection program continues to perform well. Various site samples are voluntarily tested monthly for lead. As required by Ohio EPA, 50 homes in the Columbus water distribution system are tested every three years for lead. Various suburban partners who contract with Columbus for water do their own independent lead testing.

In addition to the corrosion prevention program, when city-owned lead water service lines are encountered, those lines are replaced. (Service lines are the smaller water lines coming off the city's larger main water lines. From the main to the shut off valve near the curb or sidewalk, the service line is city responsibility, and from the valve to the home is homeowner responsibility, along with the plumbing inside the home.)

The Division of Water helps fund a partnership program with Columbus Public Health, which includes lead poisoning prevention. For more information, visit: Columbus Public Health Healthy-Homes Program.

The results are published in the annual Consumer Confidence Water Quality Report, which is mailed to customers each summer and is posted at: Consumer Confidence Report. The results range from mostly below detection, less than 1 parts per billion (ppb), to 2.7 ppb, which is far below the EPA action level of 15 ppb.

The only way for a customer to know with certainty if there may be lead at the tap is to have the water tested by a certified laboratory. State approved labs are published in our Reducing Exposure to Lead in Water(PDF, 992KB) publication, available at Columbus Public Utilities (and is mailed to customers every fall billing cycle).

A list of laboratories certified in the State of Ohio to test for lead may be found at Ohio EPA Certified Lab List (EPA Certified Labs(PDF, 218KB) via PDF) or by calling (614) 644-2752. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1(800) 426-4791 or at EPA: Basic Information About Lead in Drinking Water.

All customers can protect themselves from lead or other contaminants by following this recommendation, regardless of the age of a home: whenever water in a building has not been used for 6 hours or more, run the tap for 30 seconds to two minutes, until the water is cold. This ensures one is pulling fresh water from the city's mains, not what has been sitting in a building's pipes. View our Lead Education Brochure(PDF, 992KB) for more information.