America’s Infrastructure Challenge: Lead Water Pipes Explained

Lead pipes pose one of the biggest drinking water quality threats in the U.S., and in the wake of the Flint, Mich., water crisis stemming from lead contamination, they have become a call to arms for the Biden administration.

Replacing lead service lines nationwide is among President Joe Biden’s biggest infrastructure goals, and it’s a key part of the infrastructure bill now moving through Congress. The Environmental Protection Agency has conducted rulemakings for lead pipe replacement in both the Biden and Trump administrations.

Here’s a look at the context for the national discussion about lead pipes and what’s at stake. ...