Filtering lead out of your water is a three part job: find out whether you have it and where it comes from, put a certified barrier between the pipe and the glass while you deal with it, then remove the source so the barrier is no longer load bearing. Skipping the first step is the usual mistake, because lead is invisible, tasteless and comes from your own plumbing.
Step one: confirm it with a proper sample
Have a certified drinking water laboratory test a first draw sample, collected from the kitchen cold tap after the water has stood overnight with no use anywhere in the house. That is the worst case and the one that tells you whether your plumbing is releasing lead. A flushed sample taken afterward shows what you get in normal use. Do not clean the aerator beforehand, because that can remove particulate lead the test is meant to find, and note any treatment sitting upstream.
Step two: interim habits that cost nothing
Until a barrier is in place, run the cold tap until the water turns noticeably colder before drinking or cooking, which clears water that has been sitting against the pipe. Never take drinking or cooking water from the hot tap, since hot water dissolves lead more readily. Clean faucet aerator screens periodically, because loose particles of lead solder and scale collect there. Do not boil water hoping to help: boiling evaporates water and concentrates whatever lead remains.
Step three: install a certified barrier at the tap
Choose a point of use filter with a documented lead reduction claim: a carbon block cartridge formulated for lead in a pitcher, faucet mount or under sink housing, or a reverse osmosis system for broader coverage. Certification applies to the specific cartridge in its own housing, so read the performance data sheet and check the rated capacity. Fit the barrier at the tap the household actually drinks and cooks from, and log the install date so replacement is not guesswork.
Step four: track down and remove the source
Ask your utility for the service line material record and look at the pipe where it enters the building: scratch it and check whether it is soft, dull grey lead. Inside the house, older solder joints, brass shutoffs and a decades-old faucet body are all candidates. Sequential sampling, where a lab tests several consecutive volumes drawn from the same tap, can pinpoint how far along the line the lead is coming from. Replacing that component is the only permanent answer.
Where your water comes from changes the picture
On a community water system the utility publishes an annual Consumer Confidence Report and the EPA maintains a finder for it, and utilities run corrosion control that limits how aggressively water attacks plumbing. Private wells sit outside that: they are not federally regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, so nobody is managing corrosivity on your behalf. Our lead removal filter comparison covers which barriers hold up on well water, where pH is often lower.
Questions people ask about filter lead from water
Does boiling remove lead from water?
No. Boiling removes water as steam and leaves the lead behind, so the concentration in what is left actually rises slightly.
Does a standard fridge filter handle lead?
Only if that specific cartridge carries a certified lead reduction claim. Many refrigerator filters are certified for taste and chlorine alone.
How long should I flush before drinking?
Until the water runs noticeably colder, which signals fresh water from the main rather than water that has been standing in the pipes.
Can I just replace the faucet?
Sometimes, if the faucet body is the source. Sequential sampling by a laboratory is what tells you whether the fixture, the pipework or the service line is responsible.