Estimated U.S. Lead Pipe Replacement Cost
Source period . Recomputed by ZipCheckup from the cited federal source.
ZipCheckup estimates $14.73 billion to replace the known lead and galvanized service lines in EPA's national inventory, as of .
Replacing the 2,146,839 known lead lines and 988,069 galvanized lines cataloged in EPA data carries an estimated $14.73 billion cost, as of .
By state
| metric | value |
|---|---|
| lead_lines_known | 2,146,839 |
| galvanized_lines_to_replace | 988,069 |
| estimated_replacement_cost_usd | 14,734,067,600 |
Open data, licensed CC BY 4.0 · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19427201
How we compute this
We multiply the count of known lead and galvanized service lines in EPA's inventory by EPA's own published per-line replacement cost. The cost basis is stated on the page and comes from EPA's 2024 economic analysis, not from us.
This figure covers only lines already cataloged as lead or galvanized. Lines still classified unknown are excluded, so the true total cost is higher once unknown lines are verified.
We do not estimate or editorialize the per-line cost. If EPA revises the cost basis, the figure here recomputes on the next build.
Frequently asked questions
How much would it cost to replace U.S. lead pipes?
Using EPA's per-line cost basis, ZipCheckup estimates $14.73 billion to replace the 2,146,839 known lead lines and 988,069 galvanized lines in EPA's inventory, as of . Unknown lines are excluded, so the real total is higher. according to ZipCheckup's reading of the cited federal source period, .
How to cite this page
ZipCheckup. (n.d.). Estimated U.S. Lead Pipe Replacement Cost. https://zipcheckup.com/findings/lead-pipe-replacement-cost/
@misc{zipcheckup-findings-lead-pipe-replacement-cost,
author = {{ZipCheckup}},
title = {{Estimated U.S. Lead Pipe Replacement Cost}},
year = {n.d.},
url = {https://zipcheckup.com/findings/lead-pipe-replacement-cost/}
}