You are most likely to find lead pipes where you rarely look: in the basement, at the mains connection, behind cladding under the sink.
How to Recognise Lead Pipes
Appearance: Grey-matt, dull surface. Fresh scratches shimmer silver. Lead pipes have no sharp edges — the joints are bulge-soldered, not threaded.
Hardness: Lead is soft. Score a key along the pipe — if you easily leave a visible groove, it is lead. Copper and steel cannot be scored so readily.
Sound: Tap with a metal object. Lead sounds dull and muffled. Copper sounds bright; steel clanks.
Magnet test: Lead is non-magnetic. This rules out steel (steel is magnetic), but not copper (also non-magnetic).
Where to Check
- Mains connection in the basement: Where the water supply enters the building. This is where lead pipes are most commonly found.
- Risers: The vertical pipes between floors.
- Under the kitchen sink / under the washbasin: The last few metres before the tap.
- Old buildings in Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck: In these cities, lead pipes in buildings from before 1970 are not uncommon.
What the Limit Values Say
In Austria, the current drinking water limit for lead is 10 µg/L (Drinking Water Ordinance). Lead pipes frequently fail to meet this value after extended stagnation.
The EU Drinking Water Directive 2020/2184 tightens this to 5 µg/L by 12 January 2036. In practice, this means: all lead pipes must go. It is only a matter of time.
How to Test Reliably
Option 1 — Water sample: Stagnation sample. Let the water stand for at least 4 hours (typically overnight), then fill the first litre into a sample container. The laboratory measures the lead content by ICP-MS. Cost: €19 per sample (covers the full heavy-metal panel, not just lead). Result in 5–7 business days.
Option 2 — pXRF on site: We bring our portable X-ray fluorescence device and hold it against the pipe. Result in seconds: lead yes or no, and at what concentration. No laboratory shipping, no waiting.
We recommend both: pXRF for immediate identification of the pipe material, water sample for the actual exposure in the drinking water.
What to Do If You Find Lead Pipes
Permanently: Replace them. There is no coating, filter, or treatment that solves the problem permanently. Lead pipes out, copper or stainless steel in.
In the meantime: - Run water for 2 minutes in the morning before using it for cooking or drinking. Lead concentration is highest after stagnation. - Use only cold water for cooking and beverages. Warm water dissolves more lead. - Do not use lead-pipe water for infant formula.
Next Step
You live in an old building and are unsure whether lead pipes are installed? Get in touch. 15-minute initial consultation, free of charge.