- A new federal rule requires lead pipes to be removed from drinking water systems within 10 years
- Officials have long understood the perils of lead pipes, but momentum for policy change only began after the Flint water crisis
- Flint pediatrician calls the rule ‘a game changer for kids and communities’
Michigan communities and others nationwide have a decade to remove lead-containing pipes from their drinking water systems under a landmark federal rule finalized Tuesday.
The rule also lowers the allowable limit for lead in drinking water from 15 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb and requires water testing in schools that get their drinking water from public utilities.
Those regulations are more aggressive than Michigan’s state lead and copper rule, which has a 15 ppb limit that was set to be lowered to 12 ppb next year, and requires lead pipe removal by 2041…