Lead in the water
DEP’s free at-the-tap test kits, since 2014
54,334Taps tested
3%Over the action level
1,412Over it, in all
194Zip codes
What the tests say
The city’s water leaves the reservoirs without lead; it comes from old lead service lines, solder and fixtures inside buildings. A first-draw sample is water that sat in the pipes overnight, the worst case. Over 15 parts per billion is the federal action level, not a safe line: no level of lead is known to be safe.
Kits are free: call 311 or order one online.
Your zip code
Search an address to see the tests from its zip code.
Year by year
The share of first-draw samples over the action level.
- 2014 (954)5%
- 2015 (1,042)4%
- 2016 (5,257)3%
- 2017 (3,598)3%
- 2018 (3,943)3%
- 2019 (4,208)3%
- 2020 (3,408)3%
- 2021 (3,682)2%
- 2022 (4,160)3%
- 2023 (4,932)2%
- 2024 (8,642)2%
- 2025 (10,508)3%
By zip code
Zip codes with at least 50 tests. People who order kits worry about their pipes, so these aren’t a random sample of homes.
| Rank | Zip code | Over the action level | After flushing | Median, ppb | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11234 | 8% | 13% | 2.0 | 680 |
| 2 | 11361 | 7% | 7% | 0.0 | 240 |
| 3 | 11363 | 6% | 4% | 1.0 | 125 |
| 4 | 11379 | 6% | 13% | 1.0 | 331 |
| 5 | 10473 | 6% | 3% | 0.0 | 103 |
| 6 | 10454 | 6% | 3% | 0.0 | 70 |
| 7 | 10466 | 6% | 5% | 0.0 | 143 |
| 8 | 11233 | 6% | 5% | 0.0 | 506 |
| 9 | 10464 | 5% | 4% | 0.5 | 74 |
| 10 | 11221 | 5% | 5% | 0.0 | 711 |