Lead in drinking water rarely announces itself. It has no smell, no reliable taste, and no colour you can read, so a glass that looks clean can still carry it. The first job is not choosing a filter. It is working out where the metal could be coming from, because that decides whether you need treatment at all, what kind you need, and whether the real fix belongs at the tap or in the pipe.

Three places metal can come from

Lead can reach water from the service line that runs from the street main to your home, from plumbing inside the house, and from fixtures and solder. Copper can also leach from older plumbing when the water is aggressive. Each source has a different fix, so do not assume the source before you check it.

Start with the service line

Ask your water utility what material the service line is made of, meaning the pipe between the street main and your meter. Utilities usually keep these records and should answer a written question. If the answer is unknown, ask how they plan to find out and whether they can sample your home.

If the pipe is visible at the meter or a shutoff, you can look at it yourself, but a coin scratch or a magnet check is not conclusive. Treat the utility's record and a professional's opinion as the stronger evidence.

Look at the inside of the house

Older homes are more likely to have lead solder in copper joints or lead-containing brass in valves and faucets. Check the age of the house, any plumbing permits on file, and whether a previous owner or plumber replaced sections. Make a list of the taps you use for drinking and cooking. A new faucet is not automatically safe, so check the certification printed on the fixture or in its paperwork.

Test the water in the way the result will be used

A test from a laboratory certified for drinking water is the only way to know what is in your water. Ask the lab whether it will run a first-draw sample, which captures water that has sat in the pipes overnight, and a flushed sample, which shows what the supply delivers after the line clears. The two numbers answer different questions. Keep the full report, because you will need it when you compare options or talk to the utility.

For a plain-language explanation of how the ratings on this site weigh contaminants, see the How Grades Work page.

What to do with the answer

If the service line is the source, the fix sits with the utility or a licensed plumber and goes beyond a point-of-use unit. If the source is interior plumbing or a fixture, you may replace the fixture, flush the line as your plumber advises, or install a unit at the tap that is certified for the specific metal. If the test is clean, plan to retest whenever the plumbing changes, because a clean result describes one moment in the pipes.