Suez spent $95M to remove lead pipes, and lead levels in NJ drinking water have dropped

North Jersey
Steve Janoski

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The amount of lead in the drinking water that flows into thousands of North Jersey homes and businesses has fallen to its lowest level in at least 30 years, executives of the water utility Suez said Monday. 

The utility, which serves about 870,000 residents in Bergen and Hudson counties, said that it has spent $95 million over the past three years digging up and removing almost 8,000 lead pipes. Suez has also changed the way it treats water to make it less corrosive.

The large water mains that run beneath streets do not contain lead. Instead, the smaller, old service lines about the width of a garden hose that connect the mains to homes and businesses contained lead. They are being replaced with new copper lines.