How much lead turns up in tap tests?

Lead comes from pipes, not from the lake or the aquifer. Every system samples taps in the homes most likely to have lead service lines or lead solder and reports the 90th-percentile result to EPA; the map shows the latest one for the system serving most of each ZIP, against the 15 ppb action level (10 ppb from 2027). The card adds the record since 2016, copper, and the service line inventory every system had to file by October 2024: how many lines are lead, galvanized steel that must be replaced, or still unknown. A Children line says whether the Ohio Department of Health counts the ZIP as high-risk for childhood lead exposure, which makes blood tests at ages 1 and 2 mandatory. Systems that got H2Ohio help building their service line inventory are marked. A housing-age line gives the share of homes built before 1960 and before 1940, the years of lead pipes, solder and paint.

673 of 1,233 ZIPs have data; median 0.8 ppb.

Legend

Map of Ohio by Lead

Source

SDWIS lead and copper 90th-percentile tap results (Envirofacts) and EPA's service line inventory dashboard (2026 Q2 submissions), for the system serving most of each ZIP; Ohio Department of Health high-risk ZIP code list for childhood blood lead testing (as reproduced in the Cuyahoga County Board of Health questionnaire, October 2024); H2Ohio RCAP lead service line inventory assistance sites (Ohio EPA); Census ACS 2020-2024 B25034 housing age

ODH childhood lead testing · ODH high-risk ZIP list (CCBH PDF) · Ohio EPA lead and copper · H2Ohio

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