Lead service line replacement: $2,000 to $15,000 + city help

National figures plus two city figures. The public side is the water system's job under the 2024 federal rule; the private side depends on your city's program.

Do this now: if your water system says you may have a lead service line

Every water system had to inventory its lead lines by October 16, 2024, so the letter you received is the starting point, not a scare.

1. Check the pipe where it enters the house. The EPA's Protect Your Tap guide needs only a penny or key and a magnet: scratch the pipe near the meter or shut-off valve. Lead is dull gray, scratches to shiny silver and a magnet does not stick; galvanized steel is a duller gray and the magnet sticks (Fixr's walkthrough of the same checks).
2. Look up your address on the city's service line map: NYC DEP, Denver Water and most large systems publish one.
3. Run the tap before drinking if the line is lead or unknown, and use a filter for drinking, cooking and formula; Denver Water hands out free pitchers and filters and asks customers to keep using them for six months after a replacement.
4. Test the water. The EPA says testing is the only way to confirm lead is present and recommends a certified lab ($15 to $100). Newark offers a free post-replacement test kit.
5. Ask the water system what it will replace and what it will pay for. The federal rule makes the system replace its side and offer to replace yours; it does not have to pay for your side.
6. Call the plumber line for a price on the private side if your city has no free program, and ask whether the plumber coordinates with the utility so both halves are done the same day.

Is it urgent? Lead in water is a health risk, not a plumbing emergency

A lead service line is not a leak and will not fail tonight, but the EPA lowered the lead action level to 0.010 mg/L in the 2024 rule, so the urgent part is drinking and cooking water while you wait.

• Act this week: infants on formula, pregnant women or young children in the house: filter or bottled water for drinking and cooking until the line is replaced and the post-replacement flushing is done.
• Act this month: schedule the replacement or sign the city's consent form; Denver Water says it cannot start without one.
• A real plumbing emergency is a leaking or burst service line; see burst pipe repair and emergency plumber.

The EPA rule: 10 years to replace every lead service line

The EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, issued October 8, 2024 and published October 30, 2024, require water systems to replace their lead and galvanized-requiring-replacement service lines within 10 years of the rule's compliance date, November 1, 2027, so the clock runs to 2037 for most systems.

• Inventory first: every system had to have an initial lead service line inventory by October 16, 2024 (Federal Register).
• Action level: lowered from 0.015 to 0.010 mg/L.
• Who pays: the rule says systems "are not required to bear the cost of replacing the private portion," but must replace the portion they own and offer to replace the private portion. Whether your half is free depends on your city.
• Money behind it: Fixr cites $15 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to states for lead pipe replacement; the EPA announced $2.6 billion in state revolving fund money with the rule.
• Why lead is in the ground at all: the EPA says Congress barred non-lead-free pipe and solder after June 1986, and the lead-free definition tightened to 0.25% in the 2011 law. Houses built before 1986 are the ones to check (Angi).

Lead service line replacement cost: what you pay for the private side

Replacing lead pipes costs $2,000 to $15,000 in Fixr's guide, about $100 per foot in the Midwest and around $150 in the Northeast, while Angi's homeowner data averages $1,250 for lead pipe replacement and about $1,700 for a water main line.

The gap is scope: Angi's figure reads as a short private-side run, Fixr's as the service line plus lead runs inside an old house, and NYC DEP says a service line alone can cost more than $8,000 in a dense city where the sidewalk and street come up. Fixr adds a $100 to $300 plumbing permit, about $300 for a right-of-way permit in some states, $150 to $300 for the inspection, and plumber labor at $50 to $150 an hour. Angi notes that homeowners remain responsible for lead pipes on private property and utilities are not required to help with those costs, which is why the city programs below matter.

City programs: Chicago, New York, Denver, Newark, Detroit

Five large systems show the range from free to owner-paid: Detroit and New York replace the private side at no cost under their programs, Chicago's free program is income-limited, Denver pays when the line turns up in a main project, and Newark finished its 23,000-line program early.

City of Chicago (2020), NYC DEP, Denver Water, Newark Water and Sewer (2024), City of Detroit; checked October 2026. Programs change; confirm on the city page.

Local plumbing pages for three of these cities: Chicago, New York and Denver.

How to tell if you have lead pipes

The EPA's quick check takes 2 tools, a coin and a magnet, at the pipe where water enters the house: lead is dull gray, soft, scratches to bright silver and does not hold a magnet.

EPA Protect Your Tap (coin and magnet method); Fixr and Angi walkthroughs. A plumber can confirm, and a water test confirms lead in the water.

• Where the lead usually is: the service line from the street, and sometimes a short run to the meter. Angi says lead pipes are softer than other metals and homes built before 1986 need the closest look.
• Galvanized counts too: the 2024 rule covers "galvanized requiring replacement" lines alongside lead (Federal Register).
• Test the water anyway: solder and brass fixtures can add lead even with a copper line (EPA).

What a lead service line replacement involves

Denver Water says most service lines are replaced in four to eight hours, with the water off for that time, sidewalk and street restored one to three weeks later, and filtered water used for six months afterward.

• Both halves at once: the rule requires the system to offer to do the private side with the public side, and Denver asks for 30 days of daily flushing after the work.
• Method: a plumber pulls new copper through the old path or trenches from the meter to the curb stop. The trenchless and dig trade-offs are the same as on sewer line replacement.
• Permits: plumbing and right-of-way (Fixr). Chicago waives its fees for owner-initiated jobs.
• After: flush, filter, test. Newark's free test kit is the model to ask your city for.

Questions to ask the plumber or the water system

• Which side is yours, and will the city replace it for free, at a reduced cost, or not at all?
• Is the public side being done at the same time?
• Price per foot, permit, restoration and the post-job water test, each as a line item.
• Copper or plastic, and the warranty on it.
• License number and proof of insurance. The plumbing license table shows who licenses plumbers in six states.

Related: plumber cost, sewer line replacement cost and home repair costs. Hub: plumbing. Calls go to an independent plumbing company that serves your area; how calls work.