Chicago Has the Most Lead Service Lines in the U.S.: What It Means for Your Tap Water

Chicago has more lead service lines than any other city in the United States — more than 400,000, serving most homes in the city. Replacement has barely started, and the city's own timeline runs to 2077. Here is what that means for your tap water, and what you can do about it today.

How big is the problem?

A service line is the pipe that carries water from the water main under the street into your home. Until 1986, Chicago's plumbing code required these lines to be made of lead. As a result, roughly 412,000 Chicago homes are still connected to the water system through lead pipes — the largest inventory of any U.S. city.

The lines are not spread evenly. Older neighborhoods on the South and West Sides carry the highest share, while newer downtown construction has far fewer.

Why replacement is taking so long

• Pace: Since 2021, fewer than 4% of the city's lead lines have been replaced.
• Cost: Each replacement costs the city roughly $30,000–$35,000 on average, putting the total bill at an estimated $14 billion.
• Timeline: Federal rules adopted in 2024 call for most water systems to finish replacement within about ten years, with extended schedules for cities with the largest inventories. Chicago's own plan stretches to 2077 — meaning many residents could be drinking water delivered through lead pipes for decades.

Many suburbs, including Cicero, Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Niles and Berwyn, run their own replacement programs on different schedules. If you live outside the city, check with your municipality for your street's timeline.

Why it matters

There is no safe level of lead exposure. Lead can leach from service lines into drinking water, especially when water sits in the pipes for hours, after construction or water-main work disturbs the line, or when water chemistry changes. Children and pregnant women are most at risk: in young children, even low levels of lead are linked to lower IQ, attention problems and slower development. For a deeper look at how lead gets into water and how it is reduced, see Lead in Drinking Water: Where It Comes From and How to Reduce Your Risk.

A 2024 Johns Hopkins study published in JAMA Pediatrics estimated that about 68% of Chicago children under age 6 live in homes where lead has been detected in tap water.

This is not only a Chicago problem

The EPA estimates there are around 9 million lead service lines across the United States, concentrated in older cities throughout the Midwest and Northeast. If your home was built before 1986, the steps below apply to you wherever you live.

What you can do now

1. Find out what your service line is made of. Chicago and many other utilities now publish service line inventories online. You can also look where the pipe enters your home near the water meter: lead is dull gray, soft, and shows a shiny silver color when gently scratched with a key; a magnet will not stick to it.
2. Test your water. Chicago residents can request a free lead test kit by calling 311 or visiting chicagowaterquality.org. Elsewhere, contact your water utility or use a certified laboratory. Not sure which test to use? Read DIY Strip Kits vs. Certified Lab Tests.
3. Flush before you drink. If water has been sitting in your pipes for six hours or more, run the cold tap for several minutes — or until it feels noticeably colder — before drinking or cooking.
4. Use only cold water for drinking, cooking and baby formula. Hot water draws more lead from pipes. Boiling does not remove lead; it can concentrate it.
5. Clean your faucet aerators regularly, since lead particles can collect in the screens.
6. Filter your drinking water. Choose a filter that is independently certified specifically for lead reduction — check the certifier's official listing, not just the packaging — and replace cartridges on schedule. An expired cartridge stops protecting you.

The bottom line

Lead pipe replacement in Chicago is a decades-long project. Until the line to your home is replaced, the most reliable protection is knowing what is in your water and treating it at the tap. Start with a test — it is free, simple, and tells you exactly where you stand.

Not sure what is in your water or which treatment fits your home? Explore our water quality resources or ask our Water Advisor for a personalized recommendation.

Sources: City of Chicago Department of Water Management; WTTW News; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JAMA Pediatrics, 2024).

Pure Water. Pure Life.