Global Commitment Announced to Eliminate Lead from Drinking Water Supply Systems by 2040

A consortium of governments, manufacturers and civil society partners at the United Nations 2023 Water Conference have launched a global commitment to achieve lead-free drinking water.

Founding members of the consortium presented “A Global Pledge to Protect Drinking Water from Lead,” which aims to build momentum around local and global initiatives to progressively reduce lead exposure from drinking water and protect public health.

The pledge highlights actions to eliminate the use of lead-leaching parts in the construction of new drinking water systems and to improve the monitoring and remediation of existing systems that leach lead into drinking water.

The consortium invites governments, the private sector, manufacturers, suppliers, development banks, financial institutions, and philanthropic organizations and individuals to support global efforts by joining the Lead Pledge at globalleadfreewater.org and by working collectively to protect drinking water through the following actions:

• Ensure all new water systems are constructed with products and materials that meet international standards for lead-leaching, material safety and performance.
• For existing water systems that may contain lead-leaching materials, develop and implement plans for periodic water lead monitoring and data sharing, including the communication of monitoring results.
• Investigate water systems reporting lead levels at 10 parts per billion (the WHO guideline value) or above to identify contamination sources and implement necessary interim or long-term remedial measures to reduce human exposure.
• Support communities to reduce or eliminate exposure to lead through education and action, such as designating safe taps for drinking and cooking.

To implement these commitments, the consortium will support:

• Adoption of national policies and regulations based on international standards and testing/certification requirements for products and materials used in drinking water systems that address lead-leaching, material safety and performance.
• Manufacturing of products and materials used in drinking water systems that meet international standards for lead-leaching, material safety and performance.
• Affordable access to fittings, fixtures and filters that meet international standards for lead in drinking water.
• Development of low-cost technologies to enable widespread testing for lead in drinking water and materials to better understand the sources, impacts and mitigation/remediation of lead contamination in drinking water.
• Training and certification of professionals to oversee the design and construction of safe drinking water systems.
• National and local laboratory and monitoring capacity to assess and monitor lead in drinking water and materials to support the implementation of these commitments.
• High-quality research to better understand and identify sources, impacts and effective prevention and remediation methods and approaches to minimize harm from lead in drinking water.

For more information, visit sdgs.un.org/partnerships/global-commitment-stop-flow-lead-drinking-water.