• The water Denver Water provides to homes and businesses is lead-free, but lead can get into the water as it moves through customer-owned water service lines and plumbing that contain lead. Denver Water has notified schools, day care centers and childcare facilities with known or suspected lead service lines that they have been enrolled in the Lead Reduction Program. These groups will be prioritized to have their lead water service lines replaced with copper pipes. Residents in homes that are included in the Lead Reduction Program also have been notified.
• Families at these homes should use their free water pitcher and filter for drinking, cooking and preparing infant formula. If a parent is unsure if their home is part of the program, they can go to denverwater.org/Lead and look up their address on Denver Water’s inventory map. The Lead Reduction Program was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in December 2019 and launched in 2020. Parents, caregivers and childcare providers can call Denver Water Customer Care for more information at 303-893-2444 or email Lead@denverwater.org. 

Having a lead service line doesn’t necessarily mean you have elevated levels of lead in your water. But a lead water service line can contribute to higher levels of lead exposure, which can cause serious health problems if too much enters your body – whether from drinking water or other sources. The proper use of water filters, flushing your water and the additional protection provided by the increased pH level of the water minimize the risk of lead getting into drinking water. If you are concerned about the health of staff and children in your care, please ask them to contact their physician or go to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment’s website to learn more about other sources of lead at colorado.gov/cdphe/lead.

In addition to using your water pitcher and filter, Denver Water recommends that if water has not been used in the home for a few hours, such as first thing in the morning or when getting home from work, then run cold water from the kitchen or any bathroom faucet for five minutes (you can capture the water and reuse it for gardening, washing your car, etc.). You can also run the dishwasher, take a shower or do a load of laundry to help flush out water in your internal plumbing before drinking, cooking or preparing infant formula.

• While homes built between 1983 and 1987 are unlikely to have lead service lines (the primary source of lead in drinking water), Denver Water has found that some homes built between 1983 and 1987 have lead solder connecting sections of their interior plumbing, which can contribute to the presence of lead in drinking water. Additionally, fixtures and faucets installed prior to 2014 do not meet today’s requirements for “lead-free” fixtures and can be a source of lead.
• Having lead solder or pre-2014 fixtures and faucets doesn’t necessarily mean you have elevated levels of lead in your water. But because of the large amount of water formula-fed infants ingest relative to their body size, they are particularly vulnerable to the risks of too much lead entering the body, which can cause serious health problems. This is why Denver Water has a program targeted to formula-fed infants and expecting families in homes built between 1983 and 1987.

Our program focuses on infants who are formula-fed and therefore have diets primarily consisting of tap water. By the age of 24 months, children are typically consuming a variety of foods, and formula is no longer their main source of nutrition. You can follow these steps to reduce risk for all members of your household, including children over the age of 24 months.