Lead

If you have lead pipework or fittings in your home, small amounts can dissolve into your tap water.

When water leaves our treatment works, there’s little or no lead in the water, however, if you have lead pipework or fittings in your home, small amounts can dissolve into your tap water.

If your home was built before the 1970s you could have lead pipework, either connecting your home to the water main or inside your property. In most instances any lead pipes inside the property will have been replaced since 1970 with either copper or plastic pipes.

There are still a large number of properties in the Bristol Water area, built before the 1970s that have a lead pipe connecting them to the water main. The pipe connecting your home to the water main is made up of two parts, the section between the water main and the stop tap in the pavement is normally owned by the water company, and the section between the stop tap in the pavement to inside the home is owned by the customer.

House_pipework_diagram_JPEG Diagram: 1. Your external pipework. 2. Your internal pipework and fittings. 3. Our pipework. 3.1 External stop tap. 3.2 Service pipe. 3.3 Water main. 4. Street boundary.

Lead is considered a health concern, and it is important to minimise exposure to any sources of lead, including in tap water. Drinking tap water that contains small amounts of lead can allow lead to build up in the body and become harmful to health, particularly for pregnant women and young children.

Reducing the amount of lead in tap water

What you can do

If water has been in contact with lead pipework for long periods when water isn’t being used in the house, such as overnight, or when you are at work, the level of lead can be higher. Running the tap for a couple of minutes after these periods, before using the water for drinking and cooking, can help to reduce the amount of lead in the water.

What we are doing

Bristol Water add a small amount of orthophosphate to the water before it leaves the treatment works. The orthophosphate forms a protective layer on the inside of the lead pipes. This reduces the amount of lead that dissolves into the water.

Though these actions can help to reduce the lead levels in tap water there is still a risk of lead entering the water supply where lead pipework is present. The only way to remove this risk fully is to replace the lead pipes, which is Bristol Water’s goal – making the area lead-free by 2050.

We are already routinely replacing some of the lead pipes we are responsible for, either when a lead test result exceeds our internal guideline value or when the homeowner chooses to replace the section of supply pipe they are responsible for.

What to do if you think you have lead pipes

What to do

If you choose to replace your lead pipes you can arrange for one of our Network team to visit and discuss the replacement process by filling out our online application form.

We're now booking in replacements for April 2025 onwards.

Lead pipe replacement form