Lead pipes and old plumbing: is the tap water safe?

How to check in five minutes

You do not need a plumber to find out. Lead is soft, dull grey, and it does not ring when you tap it. Follow the incoming water pipe from the meter and look at the oldest visible stretch.

1. Find the water meter — usually in the meter cupboard by the front door, in a hallway cupboard, or under the stairs.
2. Look at the pipe leaving the meter. Lead is dull grey, thicker than copper, and often has bulging soldered joints rather than sharp fittings.
3. Scratch it gently with a coin. Lead goes shiny silver where you scratch; galvanised steel and copper do not.
4. Tap it. Lead gives a dull thud; copper and steel ring.
5. If you are unsure, send us a photo. This is one of the easiest things to identify from a picture.

Who has to replace it

The split is not by who lives there but by where the pipe sits. The Dutch government states it directly:

So: from the water meter into your home is the building owner. If you rent, that is your landlord — not you. From the meter out to the street is the drinking water company, which in this area is Waternet in Amsterdam and Weesp, and PWN across most of the rest of Noord-Holland.

What to do in the meantime

If you suspect lead and you are waiting for replacement, the practical advice is the same one that applies to any pipework that has stood still: let the tap run before you use water for drinking or cooking, especially first thing in the morning or after a holiday. Water that has been sitting in the pipe overnight has had the longest contact with it.

Do not use hot tap water for cooking or for baby formula. That is sound advice regardless of the pipe material.

Galvanised steel: the other old pipe

Far more common than lead in this region is galvanised steel — dull grey too, but harder, and it rings when tapped. It is not a lead risk, but it silts up from the inside over decades. If your water pressure has dropped slowly over years rather than suddenly, that is the usual cause, and replacing the run restores it.

Questions

My building is from the 1930s. Should I worry?

It is worth checking rather than worrying. Many pre-war homes in this region had their lead replaced decades ago, either during a renovation or by the water company. The five-minute check above tells you where you stand.

I rent. Can I make my landlord replace it?

Replacement from the water meter inwards is the building owner's duty, and that is your landlord. Report it in writing and keep the message. If nothing happens, the Huurcommissie is the route for rented homes.

Can you test the water?

Water testing is done by the drinking water company, not by us. What we can do is identify the pipe material, tell you how far the old run goes, and replace it.

How disruptive is replacing the pipework?

Less than people expect, and it depends almost entirely on where the pipe runs. A visible run along a wall or through a cupboard is a morning's work. A run buried in a floor or behind tiling takes longer, and there we will usually look for a route around it rather than through it — a new pipe along a skirting board is far cheaper than a broken floor. The water is off for a few hours, not days, and we tell you which of the two you are dealing with before we start rather than after.

Talk to us about it

If water is coming in, call. For anything else a WhatsApp message works better — you can send a photo of the label, the error code or the wet patch, and you get an answer you can read back. English is fine.

Call +31640115625 WhatsApp All our English pages

This page explains the general rule in the Netherlands. What applies to your building depends on what is actually installed there.