30,000 homes at risk of lead poisoning from water

More than 30,000 households across the country may be at risk of lead poisoning from drinking water supplied through lead pipes.

Four county councils are under orders from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to replace the last known four kilometres of lead piping in public water mains.

But the EPA warned there may be other lead mains dating back to Victorian times that have not been identified because there are no surviving records of them.