Lead Water Main Replacement

The cost for a new main is partly determined by which side of the street the main is located on your block. What I can tell you is the internal diameter of an old lead main may be as small as 1/2″. Compared to the 1 1/4″ tap and new main, the difference in water pressure inside the house may be dramatic. Call Rocky at PlumbingWorx on Degraw St, he did one for us. $2500 sounds about right including patching the squares in the sidewalk.

brucef

in Brownstoner Renovation 13 years and 6 months ago

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gavolivia | 13 years and 6 months ago

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Hi, We have a Lead water main coming into our brownstone from the street. Has anyone had any experience replacing this ? Is it even worthwhile to replace?  Are the pipes feeding from the street prior to this replacement pipe made of non-lead material. Or will our replacement have very minimal effect. We have a young child and obviously her safety is our greatest concern. Any advice, costs, recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks. Gavin

Putnamdenizen | 13 years and 6 months ago

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Why are you concerned?  Have you had your water tested?  My house has a lead main, and we just let it be.  No one advised us otherwise, even when we had to do a lead clean up. The source of most lead poisoning is paint, not water.

gavolivia | 13 years and 6 months ago

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The building inspector we hired prior to purchasing suggested that we replace it. But, no we haevn’t yet had our water tested. We haven’t yet moved in. That’s a good point thanks, I’ll look into that. Did you have yours tested ? Any recommendations or just use the over the counter tests ? thanks again

wyckoff | 13 years and 6 months ago

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If it were me,  I would replace it.  If, however, you are strapped and spending a few hundred $$ outweighs the relatively low probability that you may poison your kid,  then at least make sure you get the water tested first thing in the morning, before you use the shower, etc., as water can leach lead out of pipes if it’s been sitting there any length of time.  You want the most conservative reading possible. http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/prevguid/p0000029/p0000029.asp#head008004000000000 http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyHomes/programs/ny.htm

wiley | 13 years and 6 months ago

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The city will test it for free. They send you a test kit and you send them the water. You can google nyc dob water lead test. I also have a lead supply . My test came back well within the level considered safe and I’ve kept the pipe. Someday I’ll change it.

gavolivia | 13 years and 6 months ago

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Thanks Wyckoff, Even though we are pretty strapped, I’d happily find a way to spend a few hundred dollars to replace. Is that estimate based on experience ? The only random price i’ve heard so far was closer to $3,000 . Which is a bit harder to find right now.

hanssauerkraut | 13 years and 6 months ago

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I am also concerned about the lead water main coming into my house. I requested the test that the city offers, but haven’t received it yet. http://www.nyc.gov/apps/311/allServices.htm?requestType=topService&serviceName=Water+Lead+Test+Kit+Request

wiley | 13 years and 6 months ago

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here is the link for the test:   http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/drinking_water/lead_test_kit.shtml

gavolivia | 13 years and 6 months ago

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Thanks everyone, The Test is a very helpful place to start. I’ll order right away. If anyone has gone down the road of actually replacing , or has gotten estimates etc… It seems like I’m not the only person who would love to hear about it. Thanks