NEWARK, N.J. – A drinking water crisis in Newark, New Jersey, is bringing new attention to an old problem: Millions of U.S. homes get water through pipes made of toxic lead.
About 15,000 households in Newark were told to use only bottled water last month after the federal government said the city’s efforts to keep old lead pipes from leaching out the poison might not be working.
Since then, city residents have had to line up for cases of water distributed by government agencies.
Replacing lead pipes is expensive and experts have long said that treating them with anti-corrosive agents is enough to keep the public out of danger.
But after treatment problems in Washington D.C., Michigan, and now Newark, some experts say the pipes should all be replaced.
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