Living in a home built before 1955? If so, you may have a lead water service pipe connecting your home to the City’s water supply.
Drinking water supplied by the City is lead-free. However, trace amounts of lead can dissolve into drinking water during contact with lead in your home’s plumbing. This may impact the safety of your tap water.
The Lead Pipe Replacement Program provides support to eligible residents with the replacement of the public and private portions of a home’s lead water service pipe.
On September 25, 2019, Council approved updates to the Lead Pipe Replacement Program, including:
• Creation a new rebate of up to $1,000 – approximately 20% of the pipe replacement cost – for property owners with only a private lead water service pipe.
• Continuation of the current loan option for property owners requiring replacement of the public and private portions of their lead water service pipe, with repayment periods of 5 or 10 years.
• Creation of a new stop-gap measure offering impacted residents a reusable pitcher and approximately a one-year supply of NSF-53 certified water filters to remove lead from their drinking water while they wait for replacement of their lead water service pipe.
These enhancements will make the program more accessible to residents and will support the ongoing replacement of lead infrastructure.
Changes are expected to be in effect by spring 2020. Timelines on availability of filter kits and other program updates will be provided at ottawa.ca/leadpipes as they become available.
Call 3-1-1 to have your tap water tested for lead, free of charge.
