Albany Residents Receive Lead Pipe Warnings By Mail

Many residents in the city of Albany, NY received lead pipe warnings

If you happened to get a pink post card in the mail from the City of Albany it means they've confirmed that you have a lead pipe going to your home. Either the line in your home has lead, the one connecting the public to your home, or possibly both. It can be a pretty alarming thing to hear considering the dangers of lead to infants, pregnant women, and young children.

I got this pink post car by mail this weekend. I have young children so I am obviously a bit concerned about the pipes in my home.

How to check if your water lines are lead

The City of Albany's water department out out a video about a year ago on how to determine if the water line going into your home is lead or not. There are two pretty simple ways the determine this.

• See if a magnet sticks to parts of the pipe. Lead isn't magnetized so if the magnet doesn't stick you likely have lead. Be sure it's not copper, because copper is also not magnetized.
• To determine whether it might be copper of lead use a key to scratch the pipe. If the scratches aren't copper color, you are dealing with lead.

Apparently this is a bigger issue around the country as a whole and not just limited to the City of Albany or New York. According to the EPA,

Lead pipes are more likely to be found in older cities and homes built before 1986.  Among homes without lead service lines, the most common problem is with brass or chrome-plated brass faucets and plumbing with lead solder.

One thing I find to be pretty odd is that the State was recently audited and millions of dollars allocated to replacing lead lines around New York have gone unspent. They say that much of that is because of general confusion by residents on how to get the money that is allocated for this to them. I will tell you that it is a bit confusing. Grant money has been set aside to replace lead lines. However you can't even apply for the grant until you've submitted pictures to Albany that you do have lead pipes and you have to get at least two estimates before you can request the grant. They're certainly making you jump through hoops when public safety should be the biggest concerns, not filling out forms.

The EPA also notes that there is not "safe level" of lead exposure because lead exposure in an adult could be no effect, but the same amount could have a large effect on a developing child.

If you got a post card, follow up with the City and try to navigate it as best you can.