How do I check if my home has lead pipes?
Short answer: Ask your water utility what its service line inventory lists for your address, then look at the pipe where water enters your home using EPA’s free Protect Your Tap guide. Only a water test tells you whether there is lead in your water.
Which pipe matters
EPA explains that "Service lines are the sections of pipe used to connect a home to the main water line." A service line made of lead is called a lead service line.
EPA also notes that "Lead pipes are more likely to be found in older cities and homes built before 1986," and that among homes without lead service lines, "the most common problem is with brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and plumbing with lead solder."
Three ways to check
- Ask your water utility. Under EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, water systems had to prepare an inventory of service line materials by October 16, 2024. Ask how your line is classified. In California, the State Water Board uses four classes: Lead, Galvanized Requiring Replacement, Lead Status Unknown, and Non-lead.
- Look at the pipe yourself. EPA’s Protect Your Tap page says its guide "uses pictures, step-by-step directions to identify lead service lines" and walks you through finding where the pipe enters your home.
- Test your water. In the words of that EPA page: "Have your water tested to find out for certain if you have lead in your drinking water." EPA adds that "Some states or utilities offer programs to pay for water testing and/or lead service line replacement," so contact your state or local water company first.
"Unknown" is not the same as lead, or as clear
Many lines are still listed as unknown. California’s statewide inventory, for example, lists 694,610 service lines as "Lead Status Unknown" (6.9%), and reports that no lead lines have been reported among the nearly 10 million lines in the inventories (State Water Board, last updated 8/1/2026). The State Water Board also cautions that inventories cover only the service line: "The interior plumbing of buildings is not included in the inventory."
If your line is unknown, it simply has not been confirmed either way yet. Your utility, a look at the pipe, or a water test can settle it.
What Ground Report checks here, and what it doesn’t
The free score checks:
- The building era for the address’s area (US Census estimates), and whether homes of that era commonly have lead solder, galvanized pipe or lead service lines.
- Lead and copper sampling results that the water system serving the address reported to EPA (EPA SDWIS), when it is on a public water system.
It does not check:
- What your own service line is made of. Ground Report does not read utility service line inventories.
- Lead at your tap. Only a water test measures that.
- Private wells. These are labeled "Limited data".
Sources
- EPA — Protect Your Tap: A Quick Check for Lead (overview page; source of the quotes above)
- EPA — Protect Your Tap: A Quick Check for Lead (step-by-step guide)
- EPA — Basic Information about Lead in Drinking Water
- EPA — Revised Lead and Copper Rule (service line inventory)
- California State Water Board — Statewide Service Line Inventory Data
Sources last reviewed 2026-10-26. Quotes are taken from the linked pages. This page is general information, not a home inspection, a water test or an official flood determination.