Most people don’t know this, but under the Lead and Copper Rule, water utilities are required to monitor lead levels at the tap. Many extend that monitoring to a free residential testing program for customers. One phone call can get you a certified lead test at no cost.
How to Request the Free Test
Call your water utility’s main customer service line. Ask specifically: “Do you offer free residential lead testing?”
If they do, they’ll mail a sterile sample bottle with instructions. You collect a first-draw sample, which is the water sitting in the pipe right outside your tap after it has sat undisturbed overnight or for at least six hours. That first draw gives the highest-lead result, which represents your worst-case daily exposure. Mail it back using their prepaid envelope and receive results in one to three weeks.
Some utilities only offer the program to households built before a certain year (often 1986, when the Safe Drinking Water Act banned lead solder for plumbing). Others offer it to all customers. You won’t know until you call.
What Utility Free Testing Covers
The free utility lead program covers lead, and sometimes copper, at your tap. That’s typically the full scope. It targets the Lead and Copper Rule compliance data gap, which is the difference between what the utility monitors system-wide and what actually comes out of your specific faucet.
It does not test for PFAS, nitrates, bacteria (in your building’s plumbing), trihalomethanes, or other contaminants. The program is narrowly targeted at lead from service lines and internal plumbing fixtures.
Your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR)
Every public water system is required by federal law to publish a CCR by July 1st each year. The report covers contaminant levels detected in their distribution system, whether any MCLs were exceeded, the disinfection method used, and a source water assessment.
Finding yours is easy. Your utility is required to mail it or post it online. The EPA’s Envirofacts database (search “EPA CCR database”) lets you find utilities by zip code. Your utility’s website almost always has a direct download link.
The CCR gives you two things: what was found system-wide in their network testing, and whether any violations occurred. It won’t tell you what’s at your specific tap, especially for lead.
The CCR Gap: System vs. Tap
This is the most important distinction.
The CCR reflects what the utility found at their monitoring sites in the distribution system. Lead from your building’s internal pipes, your service line from the street to your house, and your fixtures won’t show in that data. Their pipe is clean. Yours may not be.
The 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions require utilities to inventory all lead service lines in their system by 2024. Some cities have already completed that. If your home is on that inventory, you can ask the utility whether your service line is flagged as lead, galvanized, or unknown.
In older cities, especially Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore, and Milwaukee, lead service lines are still widespread. The utility’s CCR compliance doesn’t mean your tap is fine.
States With Expanded Free Testing Programs
Some states have gone further than the federal minimum.
Connecticut offers free drinking water testing for state residents through certified labs, covering a broader panel than just lead. Maine has a similar program through the Maine CDC. Illinois has run free testing programs for schools and daycares.
The best way to find out what your state offers: search “[your state] free drinking water testing program” on your state health department’s website. These programs change, so verify directly.
When to Use a Certified Private Lab Instead
Utility testing doesn’t cover everything, and it doesn’t apply at all if you’re on a private well. Use a certified private lab if:
- You’re on a well (utilities have no jurisdiction over your water)
- You want testing beyond lead: PFAS, bacteria, VOCs, arsenic
- You need documentation for a real estate transaction
- You want PFAS results specifically (utilities aren’t required to test for PFAS at the tap)
The Bottom Line
Two things you can do today at no cost. Call your utility and ask whether they offer free residential lead testing. Then ask them to email you the most recent CCR for your service area.
Together, those two actions give you the best available utility-side picture of your water quality. For anything beyond lead, see how to test water at home or our picks for the best mail-in water tests.
If you get a lead result and want to understand what the numbers mean, how to read your water test results walks through the MCL vs. MCLG distinction and what to do with numbers above zero. For context on lead in your home’s water specifically, the lead contamination page covers sources, health effects, and treatment options. The how to read your Consumer Confidence Report guide translates CCR jargon into plain language.