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Lead in water

Lead is a toxic metal that can dissolve into the drinking water supply when water comes into contact with lead pipes. The source of lead in drinking water is mainly communication pipes owned by water companies and supply pipes owned by consumers within their property which are made from lead. There were 53 compliance sample failures for lead during 2024 out of 13,394 samples analysed for lead.  Consumers are, to a large extent, protected from exposure to lead by the practice of phosphate dosing at water treatment works to reduce plumbosolvency. To further reduce exposure to consumers from lead, anational and company strategy is required to mitigate the risk.

Lead contributed to 54 events reported to the Inspectorate in 2024.The combined ERI score for these events was 2.337. The majority of the ERI score  was attributable to a single event which affected 512 consumers in a school where one communication pipe and one supply pipe were identified to be lead along with presence of lead solder. In this instance the company undertook the correct action and issued a section 75 notice to the school requiring the school to investigate, identify and replace any sources of lead.

The Inspectorate collects data on lead via the compliance process which sets out how many compliance samples must be taken each year from water quality zones, this number varies by population but as a maximum this is 8 samples per year per zone as stipulated within the water quality regulations. Therefore, the size of the data set held for lead is quite small compared to the amount of data held on other parameters. Companies, however, do collect far more data than the compliance samples we require them to take. The Inspectorate has been in discussions with the industry lead working group to see whether all lead sample data can be collated on behalf of the industry to help the Inspectorate and form an overall picture of the lead risk within the country. Holding this data set would enable the Inspectorate to work better with Defra and central government to be able to advocate for changes to the governmental policy for lead management within water.

Lead is a problem which to a large extent is confined to within the boundaries of homes and therefore is under the control of the homeowners to rectify, it is however a relatively invisible problem and one which is tough to compel homeowners to spend the often large amount of money required to remove lead from their properties. Large-scale company-led removal schemes have been successful in discrete areas, but scaling up to national levels is not currently feasible.

The issue is also compounded by the fact that some plumbers still use lead solder despite it being banned for use on cold water systems. Using this lead solder on hot water systems is still possible and lead solder can still be purchased from plumbing and DIY shops should the homeowner be willing to carry out their own modifications which, unlike the gas industry, is still legal to do so. There is an approved plumber scheme in place, but there is no legal requirement to use this service.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared there is no safe level of lead in drinking water. Many lead pipes still exist within company distribution networks, particularly on the final sections of pipe supplying consumer properties. The Inspectorate set out its expectations in respect of lead in its long-term planning guidance. Water companies have collectively declared an ambition to be lead pipe free by 2050.

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