About
Crowd the Tap directs the power of people to protect our tap water. We are the first EPA-funded project that promotes access to safe drinking water by empowering individuals and groups to investigate the piping infrastructure that deliver drinking water to their own homes. No matter what types of pipes are in your water system (steel, copper, plastic, or lead), join Crowd the Tap to make sure your pipes get counted!
Crowd the Tap is interested in ALL the different types of pipes delivering drinking water to taps, but more specifically lead pipes. Lead pipes are of particular interest because they are a known source of lead in tap water, which is hazardous to human health. With Crowd the Tap, water consumers identify potential risks in tap water systems and that’s a critical step in preventing lead-related illnesses.
Why are there still lead pipes?
Although installation of lead pipes was banned in the US in 1986, and some water systems and homes have replaced lead pipes, much of the US drinking water infrastructure still contains lead pipes. In the past, assessments of national tap water infrastructure have involved researchers requesting information from water providers. These past efforts produced only a partial picture on which water systems still have lead service lines.
That’s where we come in
Crowd the tap aims to help fill in the gaps! There are currently no good estimates of how many homes have lead pipes. Crowd the Tap is unique in relying on people voluntarily sharing information on home plumbing and service lines in order to produce the first robust national inventory of water pipe materials. This inventory will allow people to identify lead pipe hot spots in the U.S., which we hope will inform lead pipe replacement projects.
Soon, you’ll also receive an estimate of your household risk by completing the Your Chemistry section of the online data form. Our statistical model will take into account all the information you’ve entered about your home, your pipes, and your water chemistry to give you an estimate of your risk of lead in water. No matter your estimate, we’ll provide you with steps you can take to reduce your risk or access resources for further testing.
Pipes that transport tap water are typically either copper, plastic, galvanized steel, or lead. Reports of other types of pipes are just as valuable as reports of lead pipes. It is better to report the specifics of what pipes are present (galvanized steel, copper, plastic, or other) rather than report what is absent (“no lead pipes”).
Be a Partner!
If you are a teacher, educator, youth leader, community leader, faith-based leader, or part of any organization interested safe drinking water, environmental justice, or citizen science, please contact the Crowd the Tap team and we can help you bring Crowd the Tap to youth, families, and communities. Whether you want to organize at a local, city, or statewide level, consume tap water from a private well or a public water supplier, Crowd the Tap can help you understand your pipe infrastructure and its influences on the safety of drinking water in the home.
FAQ
YES, you should participate no matter what types of pipes you have. It is important to know which areas have lead pipes and which do not. Reports of no lead pipes are just as valuable as reports of lead pipes, and it is better to report the specifics of what is present (galvanized steel, copper, plastic, or other) rather than report what is absent (“no lead pipes”).
Although installation of lead pipes was banned in 1986, and some water systems and homes replaced lead pipes, much of the US drinking water infrastructure still contains lead pipes. Currently there is only piecemeal data on which water systems still have lead pipes.
The project is interested in ALL types of pipes delivering drinking water to taps. Lead pipes are of particular interest because they are a known source of lead in tap water. Reports of other types of pipes are just as valuable as reports of lead pipes. It is better to report the specifics of what you have (galvanized steel, copper, plastic, or other) rather than not reporting or reporting “no lead pipes.”
There are currently no good estimates of how many homes have lead pipes. Also, there are highly varied estimates on the number of lead service lines. This project relies on people voluntarily sharing information on home plumbing and service lines as part of a robust national inventory of water pipe materials. For more information about why this is important, head over to our Why page.
“Citizen science is the involvement of the public in scientific research” -citizenscience.org
For more about citizen science, check out this Ted Talk by Dr. Caren Cooper.
We all can play a role to ensure safe drinking water. Lead pipes can increase the risk of lead in water. Those with private wells own their network of pipes that bring water to their taps. Those on public water supply own part of the network of pipes that bring water to their taps. Crowd the Tap is important as it helps create a national inventory of all these pipes so we have a better understanding of the nation’s tap water pipe infrastructure.
Lead is a toxin to human. Any consumption of lead in drinking water is harmful. Moderate levels of exposure can cause lasting health problems affecting hearing, speech, as well as growth and development issues. Higher exposures to lead can result in seizures, coma, and even death.
You can get involved in Crowd the Tap in many ways! You can enroll as a volunteer, which involves investigating the tap water pipes where you live, uploading your findings, and answering related questions. You can also join online discussions in the Crowd the Tap forum to talk to other people about pipes and safe drinking water. If you are educator, teacher, or community organizer, contact us about being a Crowd the Tap ambassador and receiving some Pipe Detection Kits.
The information you share with Crowd the Tap researchers will be shared with researchers on Untapping the Crowd EPA-funded project. Researchers on this larger project will be using the data to identify areas of high priority for service line replacement. If you allow it, the data you share will also be shared with utility companies as we all work towards improving the safety and quality of tap water management systems.
Crowd the Tap is a
Meet the Crowd the Tap Team Members
Crowd the Tap researchers are based at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Dr. Caren Cooper is the PI of Crowd the Tap. She is an advocate for the practices of Citizen Science, Open Science, and Science Communication, pursuing scholarly inquiry into these areas and bringing them all together to achieve Public Science.
Dr. Dani Lin Hunter is a postdoctoral scholar at NC State University where she manages Crowd the Tap and studies participation in the project. She is interested in participatory science and loves opportunities to bridge science and society.