Lead and Drinking Water

Lead is a highly poisonous metal and can affect almost every organ in the body and the nervous system. EPA estimates that lead in drinking water can be 20% or more of a person’s lead exposure. To protect public health, we must reduce lead exposure at the drinking water tap. Clean Water is working at the national and state level through policy, support for communities and water systems, and funding for lead service line replacement.

News

Blog Posts

Health Impacts of Lead

 

How Lead Gets Into Drinking Water

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Lead and Drinking Water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that lead in drinking water can be 20% or more of a person’s lead exposure. We need to get lead out of contact with water. That’s where full lead service line replacement comes in - alongside advocacy, collaboration, and education.
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2023 California Legislative Priorities

Clean Water Action plays an important role in both sponsoring legislation and keeping an eye on the bills being voted on in the California Legislature that will affect our environment. While Clean Water Action’s staff evaluates hundreds of bills each year, here are the ones we are directly sponsoring, as well as several that we’re prioritizing.
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Sacramento, California capitol building

Publications

Letter to Congress: 150+ Organizations in Support of Low Income Household Water Assistance Program Funding

On behalf of the more than 150 undersigned water associations, environmental, low-income, and other public interest advocates, and labor unions, we urge Congress to provide FY24 funding for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Low Income Household Water Assistance Program. Without action to continue this critical program, hundreds of thousands of low-income households could lose access to essential water service.

Plomo y el Agua Potable

Para proteger la salud pública, debemos reducir la exposición al plomo en el grifo de agua potable.

Factsheet: Lead and Drinking Water (English & Spanish)

To protect public health, we must reduce lead exposure at the drinking water tap. Clean Water is working for improvements in the Safe Drinking Water Act Lead and Copper Rule, supporting communities and water systems in accelerating full replacement of lead service lines through our work with the Lead Service Line Collaborative, and ensuring that funding for water infrastructure is allocated adequately and spent equitably and effectively.
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For 50 years, support from our members and the public has powered our campaigns to protect clean water, safeguard our communities, fight the climate crisis, tackle the tsunami of single-use plastic pollution, and more. Your donation today ensures we can keep winning campaigns for our water!
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