Water flows from one place to another through man-made pipes and has been doing so for thousands of years. For just as long, pipes have been leaking — regardless of the material from which they were made. Earthenware. Copper. Stainless steel. Or, yes, lead. In fact, “plumber” comes from the Latin word for lead, plumbum, so lead and plumbers go back a long ways.

Now, those old lead pipes may be the cause of a new wave of plumbing work. Jay DeFrates of Jay’s Plumbing & Sewer in Downers Grove, Illinois, sees it happening.

“It’s a big issue around this part of the country, the Midwest,” he says.

The issue came to the forefront in particular for the public during the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Although measures can be taken to prevent lead from leaching into the water flowing through the pipes, such as a water additive that coats the pipe interior, the only permanent solution is to replace lead pipes all together with some other type of material. DeFrates says it will not be easy.

“Lead pipes are so entrenched in housing stock. If it was easy to replace them, they would be out already,” he says. “But I think as time goes on, more people are going to get rid of those lead pipes. It may become mandatory that if you have a certain size of remodeling project, you will be required to get the lead waterline out of there.”

If it comes to that, Jay’s Plumbing & Sewer is situating itself as a good choice for customers to call for the job: Since 2010, DeFrates has been certified as a lead safety expert and his company has been certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a lead safe firm.

Read more about Jay’s Plumbing & Sewer in this full profile featured in the March 2018 issue of Cleaner magazine.