Does Your Home Have Lead Pipes

Is lead harmful?

In the past, lead was widely used for everything from plumbing to electronics.

It is now known that over time, exposure to lead can affect health, with the greatest risk being to children under six and to pregnant women.

As a result, the Government has banned the use of lead in many products and it has not been used for water pipes since 1970. The Government also advises that we should minimize our exposure to lead from all sources, including drinking water.

Also Read: what to do if you have lead pipes

Does Your Home Have Lead Pipes?

If your home has been modernized since 1970 and all of the pipes from the water company's stop valve outside your home to the kitchen tap have been replaced, there should be no lead pipe on your property.

However, a third of properties in the North West built before 1970 are believed to have some lead plumbing still. If you live in an older property, your supply pipe - the underground pipe that connects your home to the public water mains - could be made of lead, and there's a chance that there may be some lead pipes inside your home.

Below are some simple ways to check if you have lead pipes.

Inside the House

Ask your neighbor - if their home has lead pipes, yours might too, especially if the two properties are of a similar age. Look in or behind kitchen cupboards (or in the cellar, garage, or cupboard under the stairs) to find the pipe leading to the kitchen tap. To check if it is lead along as much of its length as possible, look out for the following:

• color - unpainted lead pipes appear dull grey
• they are also soft and have irregular bends
• the scratch test - if they are gently scraped, you'll see the shiny, silver-colored metal beneath

Outside the House

Open the flap of the stop valve outside your property. Examine the pipe leading from the stop valve to your house. You should ask your water company or a plumber to carry out this check for you as, in some cases, access can be difficult.

How will you know the difference between lead and other materials? Other pipe materials in common use are:

• copper - bright, hard, and dull brown
• iron - dark, very hard, and may be rusty
• plastic - typically blue but, if older, maybe grey or black

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How to Replace Your Lead Pipework

If you want to replace the lead pipes, you need to have applied and been accepted onto the United Utilities lead pipe replacement scheme before you do any work.

You can either do the work yourself on your side of the boundary, and we come out to inspect it, or you can employ a Water Industry Approved Plumber (commonly known as WIAPS) to do this work for you.

You will need to understand how your existing supply feeds your property. This information may be on your deeds or you can speak to your plumber, or your dedicated case manager will be able to advise.

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Understanding How You Are Connected

Before you do any work to replace the lead pipes, you must have applied and been accepted onto the United Utilities lead pipe replacement scheme.

It is important to understand how your existing supply feeds your property. This will either be a single supply where you have a direct connection to the water main or if you share your supply with your neighbors, which is a common supply.

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Laying Your New Pipework

You should use a 25mm PE pipe contained within a 100mm (4 inches) insulated duct as the pipe passes under the external wall of your property.

The pipe should then be laid out to the boundary in a clean trench, free from debris, at a depth of between 750mm and 1350mm. The trench should be lined and filled with fine granular backfill or selected soft sand.

There should be 2 meters of pipe left coiled at the boundary to allow an unjointed connection to the meter box we will install in the footpath. The marker tape should be installed approximately halfway up between the service pipe and the finished ground level. This will protect the pipe in the future should any further work be undertaken.

You must install an internal drain and stop tap inside your property if you haven’t already got one. Once we’ve completed the connection, you need to make sure your plumber is available to carry out the switchover from the lead supply to your new pipework to ensure you’re never without a water supply.

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