There have been recent scares involving lead found in drinking water across the country. Now, a new local tool could help you evaluate your risks.
It's called a Lead Connection Lookup and it's found on the Cleveland Water Department's website.
It’s not easy to find on Cleveland Water's site, but from the homepage click on the tab "Your Water". Scroll down to the "Water Quality & Treatment" tab and then click on "Lead Treatment."
It explains the Cleveland water system "does contain some cityside lead connections", but "in general, if your home was built after 1954 or your connection is larger than one-inch in diameter, it is unlikely that you have" a connection made of lead.
Type in your address and the results will come back with “likely” that you have lead connections, “unlikely”, or “address not found.”
If your result comes back with a likely result, the department gives you tips on reducing "the possibility of lead in your drinking water."
To come up with this tool, Cleveland Water said it "analyzed its records to figure out where lead may exist on cityside connections."
We want to emphasize that if you get a "likely" result that does not automatically mean you have lead in your water. This is a step in the process to determine that.