the Campaign

The Campaign for Lead Free Water, established in 2016, is a network of individuals and organizations working at the local, state, and federal levels to protect communities from the often underestimated and routinely downplayed problem of lead in tap water.

What drives our work is that current policies leave communities across the country at risk from routine exposures to and irreparable health harm from lead at the tap, even when their water utilities meet regulatory requirements and claim their water to be safe. 

We believe

that protection from lead in water requires, at minimum, an informed public.

To date, however, there are no regulatory requirements mandating public education that lets water users know about the limitations of existing policies and steps they can take to prevent exposures. Even worse, communities who have experienced large-scale lead-in-water contamination events are routinely excluded from policy deliberations; policy implementation, oversight, and enforcement; as well as governmental and non-governmental initiatives to address the problem. This, despite the fact that the absence of community participation from such initiatives often results in incomplete or faulty solutions.

The Campaign for Lead Free Water is rooted in the conviction that consumer experiences, knowledge, and robust participation at tables where decisions are made are necessary for addressing the problem of lead in tap water in a health-protective, justice-centered, and economically efficient way. 

We share and build

knowledge and resources. We also advocate for better solutions through robust public policies and meaningful public participation in the development, implementation, and oversight of solutions.  

The Campaign for Lead Free Water was born when veteran advocates from the 2001-2004 Washington, DC lead-in-water crisis joined forces with residents of Providence, RI; New Orleans, LA; Flint, MI; Pittsburgh, PA; Philadelphia, PA; and other communities across the US to respond to a problem that is prevalent and pressing.   

Our work is rooted in local action, while recognizing the need for better and stronger regional and national partnerships among concerned and affected individuals, grassroots advocacy groups, non-profit organizations, experts from multiple fields, water utilities, and government agencies.

First and foremost, we are committed to lifting local voices to the forefront, by bringing the experience, expertise, and visions of affected water users into state and federal regulations governing lead at our taps.