We’ve known for a long time that exposure to even very low levels of lead can have serious health consequences, especially for children and babies in utero. Although the health impacts of lead are well documented, we’re not doing nearly enough to address it.
While lead can be naturally found in our environment, it does NOT belong in our drinking water. Water becomes contaminated with lead as it moves through corroded lead pipes or plumbing fixtures with lead solder
1 – Learn about your risk level. Homes built before the mid-1950s are the most likely to have a lead service line. Contact your municipality to find out if you have a lead service line on either side of the property line.
2 – Get your tap water tested. This is especially important if you live in an older home, though even newer homes can have lead in their fixtures. Contact your municipality to find out about testing in your community.
3 – Protect yourself and your family from lead. If you find out you have lead in your water, you can take immediate steps by flushing your taps or using an NSF-certified filter. Learn more on Health Canada’s website.
4 – Tell your city to completely remove lead service lines. Municipalities can and should be removing all lead pipes and should avoid replacing only one side of the lead service line. Find out what your municipality is doing to protect people from lead exposure and encourage them to adopt best practices like complete lead service line removal, mapping of lead pipes and financial support for replacement.
5 – Call on the province to strengthen the standard for lead in drinking water. This is a critical step in reducing how much lead is allowed in our tap water. There is no safe level of lead, but strengthening the standard to the federally recommended level of 5 ug/L will help.
Webinar - Lead Elimination Strategy
Document- Lead Elimination Strategy
