Lead in Drinking Water
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is dedicated to protecting our customers from lead in drinking water.
We actively monitor for lead in drinking water. Our high-quality water meets all federal and state drinking water requirements for lead.
Most lead found in drinking water comes from the corrosion of faucets, and plumbing fixtures and lead solder in the home. The SFPUC adjusts the pH of the water we deliver to prevent corrosion. This means that even if you have lead plumbing fixtures in your home or business, there is a lower likelihood of corrosion into the water.
The SFPUC removed all known lead service lines (the pipes that deliver water to your home or business) in the 1980s.
On this page, you can learn more ordering a lead test, the SFPUC’s lead monitoring in schools and municipal buildings, and how to identify lead-free faucets. You can also find information about the SFPUC’s work to inspect utility-owned and customer-owned water service lines (the pipes that deliver water to your property) at these webpages:
Lead Service Line Replacement Program (for information on utility-owned service lines)
Identifying Customer-Owned Service Lines (for information on customer-owned service lines)
If you have concerns about lead in your drinking water, you can call the SFPUC's Water Quality Division at (650)-652-3100 or email quality@sfwater.org. You can also visit our Frequently Asked Questions on Lead.
-
Order Lead Testing
If you are a San Francisco resident, you can order a lead test for $25.00 per tap. Participants in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program can order a lead test for free.
How to Order a Lead Test:
- Fill out the application: Lead Testing Application (Chinese, Spanish, Filipino)
- Send the application and payment of $25 per tap to the SFPUC’s Water Quality Division at:
SFPUC Water Quality Division
Attn: Lead Program Coordinator
1657 Rollins Road
Burlingame, CA 94010 - Once the SFPUC has processed your application and payment, we will send a testing kit(s) and instructions to your address. As the resident, you will collect the sample(s) at your tap.
- Once you have collected the sample(s), the SFPUC will pick it up. Then, we will conduct lead testing.
- The SFPUC will notify you with the results.
-
Monitoring in Schools and Municipal Buildings
The SFPUC constantly monitors for lead and copper in our drinking water supply. We have conducted this monitoring for decades. Our water meets all federal and state standards for lead and copper.
The State Water Resources Control Board uses the results of our water quality monitoring to see if additional studies or treatment are needed. You can see the results of the Lead and Copper Rule monitoring program in the City and County of San Francisco for the years 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2021, and 2024 at this link: Lead and Copper Monitoring.
Please contact our Water Quality Division at (650) 652-3100 if you have any questions about our lead testing program.
Monitoring in Schools
From 2017 to 2019, the SFPUC tested fixtures for lead in all San Francisco Unified School District K-12 campus locations and sites. In addition, the program tested fixtures at several private, parochial, and non-affiliated schools throughout the City. The results are found in the links below.
A new school lead testing program is being planned to meet requirements under the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper Rule Revision.
- Archdiocese of San Francisco Schools test results (English)
- San Francisco public school test results (English)
Read our factsheets below to learn more about how to reduce lead in school taps:
Monitoring in Municipal Buildings
Monitoring has been conducted in many public municipal buildings throughout San Francisco. You can find the monitoring data of municipal buildings in San Francisco at this link: Monitoring data of municipal buildings in San Francisco.
-
How to Identify Lead Free Faucets
Do faucets have lead?
In 2010, new regulations were passed that require that residential kitchen faucets, bathroom faucets, bar faucets, drinking fountains, and icemakers have decreased or eliminated lead levels.
Most faucets purchased prior to 1997 were made of brass or chrome-plated brass. These materials contain up to 8 percent lead. Water sitting overnight (or for several hours) in a brass faucet tends to leach lead from the brass faucet interior. This may produce relatively high lead levels in the first draw of drinking water.
Even if you have a brass faucet, there are actions you can take to lower your risk of potential lead exposure. You can find our list of tips to reduce potential lead exposure on our Frequently Asked Questions on Lead page.
How can I tell if a new faucet is lead free?
Lead-free faucets are certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) International Standard 61-Section 9. This standard certifies the lead-free status of all plumbing fixtures.
You can find a list of approved lead-free fixtures at 1-800-NSF-MARK or www.nsf.org. New faucets that have been certified will have “NSF 61/9” stamped on the new faucet’s cardboard box.
Please note that the term “lead free” does not mean that faucets will leach zero lead. The legal definition of “lead free” allows a faucet to leach up to 11 parts per billion (ppb) of lead. A part per billion is comparable to one cent out of 10 million dollars.
California passed Proposition 65, which sets a stricter standard for faucet lead leaching. In California, a faucet can only leach 5 ppb of lead. Any faucet sold in California which does not meet the California standard must have a Proposition 65-package warning insert or a warning hang tag.
If your new faucet has both an NSF 61/9 stamp on the cardboard box and has no Proposition 65 warning, then your faucet is both a lead-free and an ultra-low lead faucet. This is the most desirable faucet.
Are there any faucets with no lead at all?
Some faucet manufacturers produce plastic faucets that have virtually zero lead. Other manufacturers are substituting other metals for the lead in brass faucets, inserting copper tubes inside the brass faucets, or applying special coatings on the inside of the faucets in order to minimize or eliminate lead leaching.
Does it really matter if I have an ultra-low lead faucet?
If you follow our recommendations to lower potential lead exposure, it should not matter what kind of faucet you have.
Here’s what you can do to lower potential lead exposure:
- In the morning, let the water run at the tap for one minute.
- Use cold water for cooking.
Those two actions will lower the risk of lead leaching in the first draw of water. To learn more recommendations, visit our list of tips to reduce potential lead exposure on our Frequently Asked Questions on Lead page.
What should I do if I’m worried about lead in my faucet?
If you are concerned about lead in your faucet, there’s a few things you can do:
- Replace your faucet with a new ultra-low lead faucet.
- If you are a San Francisco resident, you can order a lead test from the SFPUC for $25 per tap. Participants in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program can order a lead test for free.
- Visit our list of tips to reduce potential lead exposure on our Frequently Asked Questions on Lead page.