Please fill out this form if your home is enrolled in the Lead Reduction Program and you need a new and/or replacement water pitcher or filter. You can also contact Denver Water’s Customer Care at 303-893-2444 or email lead@denverwater.org.

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We are providing all customers with a known, possible or suspected lead service line a water pitcher, filter and replacement filters at no direct charge until those customers’ service lines can be replaced. Customers will receive their filter and replacement filters in the mail beginning spring 2020.

Your water pitcher needs a replacement filter every six months to maintain effectiveness. We will regularly mail you free replacement filters to use until six months after your lead service line has been replaced.

Please use the water pitcher and filter and maintain it according to the manufacturer’s instructions until six months after we replace your lead service line. Denver Water expects it will take 15 years to replace the estimated 64,000-84,000 lead service lines owned by its customers.

Denver Water will work through our service area, replacing service lines on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis, prioritizing those communities who are most vulnerable and at-risk from lead exposure, particularly infants and children. Once we have identified your property for a service line replacement, we will include you in the Lead Service Line Replacement Program.

To be safe, check with your veterinarian and/or give your pet filtered water. Changes in pet behavior as a result of drinking lead‐contaminated water are not likely to be noticeable. In general, pets are more likely to obtain lead as a result of eating an object containing much higher lead levels (such as lead paint chips, improperly glazed ceramic food or water bowl). If you are concerned about your pet, you can provide them with filtered drinking water.

Yes. Bathing and showering are safe for you and your children. Human skin does not absorb lead in water at levels that cause a health concern. Be sure to avoid swallowing a large amount of water when brushing teeth.

Filtered water should be used for drinking (including making tea and coffee), cooking food where water is a base ingredient or absorbed into the food (such as rice, beans and soup) and preparing infant formula. It is fine to use non-filtered water for all other uses (such as showering, bathing, laundry, irrigation, dishwashing, etc.).

There are a lot of different water filters out there. Denver Water is distributing Brita water filters certified to NSF Standard 53 to remove lead. We recommend you check NSF’s guide to certified filtration devices to confirm whether your filter is certified to remove lead. 

There are many options for filters, and your refrigerator may have a built-in filter and ice maker. You should only use a filter that is certified to NSF Standard 53 to remove lead for any water you consume, including ice. Denver Water is distributing pitcher filters with this certification. For guidance on how to see if your refrigerator filter is certified to remove lead, see NSF International’s guide to certified filtration devices. 

It is safe to use unfiltered water on your garden vegetables and rinsing food prior to eating. Plants and vegetables have tissues that serve as a natural filtration system which prevent them from picking up any traces of lead. For more information on other potential sources of lead in the home, please visit the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s website.

Heating or boiling water does not remove lead. The best way to reduce your risk of lead exposure is to use a filter certified to remove lead for drinking water, preparing infant formula or cooking. If you have a lead service line, Denver Water is providing you with a certified filter for these purposes. We also recommend that you flush your water after not using the water in the home for a few hours (run cold water from the kitchen or bathroom faucet for five minutes).

Certified filters should be used for drinking water, preparing infant formula or in the preparation of any food where water is a base ingredient or absorbed into the food (recipes like rice, beans and soup). It is fine to use non-filtered water for all other uses (e.g., showering, bathing, laundry, irrigation, dishwashing, brushing teeth, etc.). 

Water pitchers, filters and replacement filters are geographically distributed over a number of weeks. To confirm whether or not you are enrolled in the Lead Reduction Program, please check out our lead service line inventory map. If your property is identified as “Confirmed” or “Likely” to have a lead service line and you have not received a water pitcher and filter, please fill out this form. You can also contact Denver Water’s Customer Care at 303-893-2444 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or email us at lead@denverwater.org.

Denver Water is sending a pitcher, filter and replacement filters directly to customers living in all properties enrolled in the program. If the property you currently live in is enrolled, but you did not receive a pitcher or filter, please fill out this form. You can also contact Denver Water’s Customer Care at 303-893-2444 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or email us at lead@denverwater.org. As the program moves forward, we will also be working with leasing offices to ensure new tenants have pitchers and filters.

If you received a broken pitcher or filter, please fill out this form. You can also contact Denver Water’s Customer Care at 303-893-2444 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or email us at lead@denverwater.org.

Please verify that your water filter, whether it’s under your sink, part of your refrigerator, or some other kind of filter, is certified to remove lead. Use a filter certified to NSF Standard 53 for lead removal for drinking and cooking, especially if you are pregnant or have children under age 6. 

If you would still like to opt out from receiving filter replacements, please contact Denver Water Customer Care at 303-893-2444 or email us at lead@denverwater.org so we can update our records and remove you from receiving replacement cartridges in the future.

Yes, pitchers will be replaced during the course of the program based on manufacturer recommendations for the lifecycle of the pitcher. If you are in need of a new pitcher, please contact Customer Care at 303-893-2444 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or email us at lead@denverwater.org.

Yes, you can recycle your Brita pitcher and filters through the Brita Recycling Program. Visit terracycle.com for more information.

Yes, due to supply chain modifications, we send out different models of Brita pitchers and filters that are certified to remove lead to NSF Standard 53. All the pitchers we send have the same capacity and are compatible with the Longlast+/Elite filter. Pitcher models currently in use include the Monterey and Pacifica. You can more information on these models on the Brita website.

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.

As part of the process to develop and get approval for the Lead Reduction Program, Denver Water had to analyze alternative approaches to its proposal. Analysis of the primary alternative, adding a chemical called orthophosphate to the water, predicted lead levels to be at 3 ppb in homes built between 1983 and 1987.

While the pH adjustment Denver Water has implemented is providing protection for all customers, we are also providing filters to expecting families and those with formula-fed infants under the age of 24 months in 1983-1987 homes with lead levels over 3 ppb in order to provide equivalent treatment to orthophosphate. You can learn more about this analysis in the program proposal and see community feedback on the proposal.
 

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 the steps above to reduce risk for all members of your household, including children over the age of 24 months.
 

Adults typically consume less tap water and more food in relation to their body mass. As adults will use and store less nutrients due to their slowed rate of growth, breastfed infants have a much lower risk of being exposed to lead than a bottle fed infant whose main food is produced using tap water. If you are concerned about the potential risk of lead in your drinking water, there are several steps you can take, outlined above.
 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s action level for lead in drinking water is 15 parts per billion (ppb). One ppb is equivalent to about one drop in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. It is important to note, however, that the action level is not a health indicator. Lead builds up in the body over time, so ongoing exposure, even at low levels, may eventually cause health effects. Infants and children are more vulnerable to lead than adults, whether from drinking water or other sources. Formula-fed infants are especially vulnerable to lead in drinking water because tap water is used to make up 90% of their diet. 

We recommend following the steps outlined above under “What other steps can I take to reduce the risk of lead exposure?” to reduce risk for all members of your household and going to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment website for more information on lead exposure. If you are concerned about the health of your children, please consult your pediatrician.