Lead Removal for Drinking Water

Lead almost never comes from the water source itself. It usually enters as water travels through older home plumbing, including lead-based solder used on copper pipe before 1986, galvanized service lines, and some older brass fittings. Homes built before 1986 with original plumbing are the most likely to have lead at the tap.

The only way to know is to test, because lead is invisible, tasteless, and has no odor. A municipal report reflects water at the treatment plant, not what reaches your kitchen tap, so a separate sample is needed. Lead has to be confirmed by a certified laboratory, and Range Water customers can order a mail-in lab test kit through our SimpleLab storefront.

A point-of-use reverse osmosis system under the kitchen sink is the most common and effective solution. The RO membrane removes the large majority of dissolved lead and other metals, giving you clean water for drinking, cooking, and ice. Whole-house lead removal is available but usually isn't needed when the concern is drinking water.

No, a standard water softener does not remove lead. Softeners exchange hardness minerals like calcium and magnesium and are not designed to take out dissolved metals such as lead. Lead reduction requires a dedicated approach, most often a point-of-use reverse osmosis system installed at the kitchen tap.

It can, and MDH says so directly. Under the disadvantages of home softening, MDH writes that a softener "can corrode your pipes," that the corroded metal can end up in your water, and that this "can contribute to elevated lead and copper levels in drinking water." The follow up is about how the unit is run: installed and maintained to the manufacturer's instructions, which helps prevent corrosion, and set to your water's actual hardness.

No, the EPA states there is no safe level of lead in drinking water, especially for children, infants, and pregnant women. Rather than asking whether a level is high enough to cause symptoms, the better question is whether any lead is present and, if so, how to remove it through proper filtration.

Any home built before 1986 with original plumbing is worth checking, along with homes whose service line isn't documented and older rural wells with original casing or fittings. Schools, daycares, and households with infants or pregnant women face the highest risk and should test first.

No. EPA states plainly that boiling water does not remove lead from water. What the agencies recommend instead is simple: use cold water for drinking, cooking and making baby formula, because MDH notes hot water releases more lead from pipes than cold water does. Letting the tap run for at least one minute before you draw water to drink or cook with also helps, though the only way to know whether it did is a test.

Only if that specific filter is certified to remove lead. MDH lists carbon filters certified to remove lead as one option, alongside reverse osmosis and distillation, and notes that what a filter removes depends on its pore size. EPA adds two things people miss: an expired cartridge is less effective at removing lead, and you should not run hot water through the filter. Check the cartridge documentation rather than assuming.

Possibly. MDH notes that brass faucets and valves usually contain 8 percent lead or less but can still dissolve lead into water, especially during the first few months of use, and says to flush the water before drinking when new brass components go in. A 2014 federal law limits most pipe, fittings and fixtures installed after it took effect to no more than 0.25 percent lead, a ceiling rather than zero. Newer plumbing lowers the odds; it does not rule lead out.

No. In MDH's terms an under-sink unit is point of use: it treats water at one faucet or one location, which MDH calls a good option for treating only the water you use for drinking and cooking. A dedicated line runs from the unit to the tap it serves, so bathroom sinks and showers are not covered. With lead, the water you drink and cook with is the water that gets treated.