PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has launched an interactive map of drinking water service lines in the state that shows whether the pipes contain lead.

The dashboard shows whether the lines are made of lead, non-lead, or unknown material. Residents can check the materials on both the public and private sides of the service line on their property using the map.

The tool is a follow-up to the notification that public water systems sent to residents and business owners in late 2024 regarding whether they receive water through service lines made of lead or unknown material.

“Just having a lead service line does not mean that there is lead in your drinking water,” said Jerry Larkin, state director of health. “Public water systems take many steps to keep drinking water safe from lead, including treatment that reduces corrosion and routine testing, with a focus on homes with lead service lines. However, the replacement of all lead service lines in Rhode Island is an important additional step in making Rhode Island’s drinking water as healthy and safe as possible.”

The Rhode Island Lead Poisoning and Prevention Act requires all lead service lines to be replaced by 2033. It also required public water systems to systematically collect and submit information to RIDOH about the material of all service lines in their distribution systems for the first time. After these inventories were done in 2024, public water systems sent out their notices.

In 2020, the statewide number of first-time lead poisoning cases among children 6 and younger increased to 472, up from 388 in 2019, according to RIDOH.

Of those 472 cases, 69% were recorded in four cities — Central Falls (Pawtucket Water Supply Board), Pawtucket (Pawtucket Water Supply Board), Providence (Providence Water), and Woonsocket (Woonsocket Water Division) — and where 74% of the youth exposed were children of color, according to RIDOH.

Children can get lead poisoning by eating lead chips from flaking window sills — they need to be stripped to the wood to remove all of the lead paint — or other long-ago painted areas that are peeling; ingesting or breathing dust that contains lead; drinking tap water that contains lead from old pipes; eating fruits or vegetables that have lead on them from the soil around pre-1978 homes; and/or from some toys and household products.

Lead exposure can affect nearly every system in the body and, because such exposure often occurs with no obvious symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized.

If a person is exposed to high levels of lead over a short period of time or exposed to lower levels over time, they may experience abdominal pain, depressed, distracted, tired, forgetful, irritable, and/or pain or tingling in the hands and feet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lead poisoning can also expose children to brain and nervous system damage, slowed growth and development, and learning and behavior problems — e.g., reduced IQ, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, juvenile delinquency, and criminal behavior.

Lead service lines were commonly used in the early 1900s, and the use of lead pipes for new construction was banned in 1986. As the plumbing gets old, the material of the pipes can wear away and lead can get into the drinking water. Public water systems are required to control potential corrosion, which prevents lead from getting into the drinking water.

Lead levels are routinely monitored through sampling at residents’ taps, with a focus on homes with lead service lines. This testing is to ensure that what a public water system is doing to prevent lead corrosion is working. Water systems must notify customers of any exceedance of the lead action level.

Learn more about protecting children from lead and lead screenings here.