# How Do I Check If I Have a Lead Service Line in Philadelphia?

> How to check for a lead service line in Philadelphia: read PWD's Service Line Material Map, what incomplete records mean, and the scratch and magnet test.

URL: https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/check-if-you-have-a-lead-service-line/

Learn

Reading the Water Department's Service Line Material Map, what an 'unknown' or incomplete record means for your address, how to test the pipe where it enters by the meter, and why the street line and the pipes inside are separate questions.

Last Updated: October 26, 2026

**Start with the Philadelphia Water Department’s online Service Line Material Map, which shows what PWD’s records say about your address. If it says lead, galvanized or incomplete records, look at the pipe where it comes through the wall by your water meter and do the EPA’s scratch and magnet test. PWD says to treat incomplete records as possibly lead.**

Most owners who look find no clear answer, because most Philadelphia addresses have no complete record. [Philadelphia Freedom Repipe](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/) offers and manages [lead service line replacement](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/lead-service-line-replacement/) and interior repiping across Philadelphia, and this guide explains how to get from the map to a reasonable answer about your own line, and what that answer does and does not tell you about the pipes inside the house.

Key takeaways

- PWD's Service Line Material Map shows its record for each address: lead, galvanized, non-lead or incomplete records.
- Incomplete records, formerly 'unknown', should be treated as possibly lead, PWD says.
- The EPA's quick check: scratch the pipe at the meter with a coin or key, and hold a magnet to it.
- Galvanized service lines are grouped with lead because lead can collect on their corroded walls.
- The service line and the interior piping are separate. A copper service line says nothing about galvanized risers upstairs.

## Reading the Service Line Material Map

PWD’s [Service Line Material Map](https://water.phila.gov/service-line/) lets you search an address and see what PWD’s records say about its service line. It exists because federal rules now require water systems to inventory every service line. When PWD launched the map, its published inventory counted:

| Category on the map | Lines at launch | What it means |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lead | 14,272 | Records show lead |
| Galvanized | 1,189 | Records show galvanized steel |
| Non-lead | 73,373 | Likely plastic or copper, by PWD’s description |
| Unknown, now incomplete records | 436,341 | Not enough information to say |

Those were the counts in PWD’s announcement when the map went live; the map itself is updated as records come in, so it is the place to check for current figures. PWD estimates that about one in 20 Philadelphia properties, or five percent, may have a lead service line.

The striking number is the last one. Most addresses fall into the incomplete category, and owners regularly report finding nothing more useful on the map than that. That is not a failure of the search: it reflects how few records survive for lines laid many decades ago.

## What “incomplete records” means for you

PWD says a service line with incomplete records should be treated as if it may contain lead. In practice that means two things. First, take the interim steps PWD recommends for lead lines, such as flushing and certified filters, which the [lead in Philadelphia tap water guide](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/lead-in-philadelphia-tap-water/) covers. Second, try to improve the record. Where the section between the meter and the curb stop has an incomplete record, PWD asks residents to check the pipe and report what they find. PWD does not recommend digging up buried sections to look.

The age of the house is a hint, not an answer. PWD says lead service line installation decreased after the 1950s, and of the city’s housing, 39.9% was built in 1939 or earlier. But many older lines have been partly or wholly replaced, so a hundred-year-old rowhouse may have a newer copper line, and a newer house may still have an old connection.

## How to check the pipe at the meter

In a typical Philadelphia rowhouse, the service line enters through the basement front wall and meets the water meter just inside. That short exposed stretch is the one place most owners can see. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s [Protect Your Tap quick check](https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/protect-your-tap-quick-check-lead) describes the test:

1. **Find the pipe** coming through the wall into the meter, on the street side of the meter.
2. **Scratch it gently** with a coin or key, through any paint or corrosion. Do not cut into it or scrape hard.
3. **Hold a magnet** to the pipe.

| What you see | Likely material |
| --- | --- |
| Soft dull gray, a scratch shows shiny silver, magnet does not stick | Lead |
| Dull gray, scratch stays gray, magnet sticks | Galvanized steel |
| Penny color where scratched, magnet does not stick | Copper |
| White, blue or black plastic | Plastic |

A lead line often has a rounded, bulging joint where it was connected. Do the test on the pipe only, not on the meter or valves, and stop if the pipe is fragile or leaking. The [guide to identifying your water pipes](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/how-to-identify-your-water-pipes/) describes each material in more detail and applies the same tests to the pipes inside the house.

## Why galvanized counts as possibly lead

A galvanized steel line is not made of lead, yet PWD and the federal rules group it with lead lines. PWD explains that over decades, lead from a property’s plumbing can accumulate on the corroded walls of galvanized pipes. A galvanized line that sat downstream of a lead connection for years may hold lead in its scale and release it later. That is why the City’s free replacement routes, described in the [free lead line replacement guide](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/free-lead-line-replacement-philadelphia/), cover galvanized lines too.

## The street line and the pipes inside are different questions

The map and the meter test answer one question: what is the service line, the pipe from the main to the meter, made of. They say nothing about the pipe after the meter. A Philadelphia house can have a newer copper service line and galvanized mains and risers inside, or the reverse.

That distinction decides which job is needed:

- **A lead or galvanized service line** is replaced from the street to the meter, under its own permit, possibly through a City program. The owner owns that line, as the [who owns the water line guide](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/who-owns-the-water-line-philadelphia/) explains.
- **Galvanized pipe inside the house** is the interior question. It narrows with corrosion and can also hold lead from upstream. Replacing it is a [galvanized pipe replacement](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/galvanized-pipe-replacement/) or [whole-house repiping](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/whole-house-repiping/) job, starting at the meter and main shutoff.

PWD also notes that lead can hide in older plumbing work inside the house: old solder, fittings, faucets and brass. A licensed and insured plumber can inspect the pipes and other plumbing for lead or steel, PWD says.

## After you know

If the line is lead or galvanized, check whether a City program reaches your address before paying privately, and look at the [PWD HELP loan](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/pwd-help-loan/) if you plan to pay for it yourself. If the line is copper or plastic at the meter but the record stays incomplete, keep following PWD’s interim advice and report what you found. Philadelphia Freedom Repipe replaces service lines and interior piping through licensed and insured contractors; inside the city, a Philadelphia licensed master plumber oversees the job and pulls the L&I permit.

## Questions about this guide

### What does 'incomplete records' mean on the PWD service line map?

It means PWD does not have enough information to say what your service line is made of. Earlier versions of the map called these lines unknown. PWD says a line with incomplete records should be treated as a lead service line until the material is confirmed, so it is a reason to check the pipe at the meter, not a sign that the line is safe.

### If the pipe at my meter is copper, can the rest of the service line still be lead?

It can. The section you can see at the meter shows only that piece. A line may have been partly replaced in the past, so copper inside the wall does not prove what runs under the sidewalk. PWD does not recommend digging to check buried sections, which is why its map records the material by section where it can.

### Is a galvanized service line treated like a lead one in Philadelphia?

Yes, for replacement purposes. PWD groups galvanized service lines with lead ones in its replacement programs because, over decades, lead from a property's plumbing can build up on the corroded inside walls of galvanized pipe and come loose later. A galvanized line is not lead pipe, but it is treated as possibly lead-bearing.

## Related service

### Lead service line replacement

The water service line from the main in the street to the meter inside the house, replaced when it is lead or galvanized, with the L&I permit, PWD connection and sidewalk restoration planned in one scope.

## More guides

- Learn [How Do You Identify the Water Pipes in Your House?](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/how-to-identify-your-water-pipes/)A step-by-step way to tell galvanized steel, copper, lead, PEX, CPVC and polybutylene apart, using a coin, a magnet and the printing on the pipe, and where to find each run in a Philadelphia rowhouse.
- Decision Guide [Can I Get My Lead Service Line Replaced for Free in Philadelphia?](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/free-lead-line-replacement-philadelphia/)The City routes that can replace a lead or galvanized service line at no charge, who each one reaches, what it leaves to the owner, and what to do if none of them reaches your block.
- Learn [Is There Lead in Philadelphia Tap Water?](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/lead-in-philadelphia-tap-water/)Where lead in drinking water comes from in Philadelphia, what the Water Department does about it, what its testing shows, the steps PWD and the EPA describe for your own tap, and how the pipes in and under your house fit in.
- Learn [Who Owns the Water Service Line in Philadelphia?](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/who-owns-the-water-line-philadelphia/)Where the Water Department's pipe ends and yours begins, from the ferrule at the main to the last fixture upstairs, and why the line is drawn differently across the city limit.
- Decision Guide [How Does the PWD HELP Loan Work for a Water Service Line?](https://philadelphiafreedomrepipe.com/guide/pwd-help-loan/)The Water Department's zero-interest loan for service line and other exterior plumbing work: the terms, who qualifies, the lien on the property, who does the work, and the interior piping it does not cover.