Lead Service Line Replacement Program

Water service lines connect your home’s plumbing to the City’s water main in the street. Homeowners own and are responsible for their service line in its entirety.

New York City’s water is delivered lead-free and meets or exceeds federal and state health standards. However, if your private service line and/or household plumbing contain lead, it could increase your risk of exposure to lead through your drinking water. Lead can cause serious health problems, particularly for young children and pregnant women. We strongly encourage anyone with a lead service line to replace it to reduce the risk of lead exposure from household plumbing.

In addition, if your property has a lead service line that means your line is more than 60 years old and could need to be replaced soon (plumbers could legally install lead service lines in New York City until 1961). Replacing a service line can cost more than $8,000. Participating in this program can save you thousands of dollars!

1. Our contractor will contact you to schedule an inspection of your service line to confirm that the line is made of lead and needs to be replaced.
2. If your service line needs to be replaced, the contractor will schedule a replacement date.
3. The next step of the process is to replace the lead service line with a new, safe copper line. We request that the property owner or a designated representative be present on this day. Replacement work takes approximately 1-2 days, and we will try to minimize any water service disruptions while we work. We will provide a lead pitcher filter and cartridges, as well as flushing instructions, after replacement. 
4. The final step of the project is restoration of streets and sidewalks. You can expect a brief delay between the completion of your service line replacement and restoration activities (typically between 2-4 weeks).

If you have recently had your lead service line replaced or are about to have it replaced, download the Water Service Line Replacement at Your Home: Flushing Directions to minimize your risk of lead exposure through your plumbing. You can also watch this Whole House Flushing Video for additional information.

To avoid unexpected service line repair costs, consider enrolling in the Service Line Protection Program.

For more information about lead in household plumbing and tips to reduce your exposure visit Lead in Drinking Water.

DEP and DDC will have crews working in eligible neighborhoods. View the NYC Service Line Map to see neighborhood contract areas.

In addition, when our contractors find a lead or galvanized steel water service line while replacing a water main in the street, we will work with the property owner to replace the line with a safe, new copper line at no cost to the homeowner.