Can Mail-In Lead Tests Assure People Their Water Is Safe?
Newark, New Jersey, replaced all known lead service lines and provided 40,000 water filters. Now it wants to rebuild trust by mailing test kits to homes.
Protesters marched outside Newark’s Prudential Center in 2019 to bring attention to the high lead levels found in city water at that time.
Photographer: Karla Ann Cote/NurPhoto via Getty Images
An ad on a bus shelter in downtown Newark, New Jersey, tells passersby to watch their mail for a free at-home kit to test their water for lead.
The campaign — and tests — are the final step in the city’s push since 2016 to clean up drinking water after lead levels were found to be among the highest of any major city in the U.S. Similar to the crisis in Flint, Michigan, Newark has had to repair and replace aging infrastructure, and then rebuild trust with residents to convince them the water coming out of their taps is safe.