EPA Hosts First-Ever Public Demonstration of Emerging Technologies to Identify Lead Service Lines 

WASHINGTON -- Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hosted its first-ever public demonstration of promising, emerging technologies to help combat lead exposure at EPA’s Lead Service Line Identification Test Bed in Edison, New Jersey. The technologies on display have the potential to identify lead service lines faster, cheaper, and with less disturbance than traditional methods.  

EPA Region 2 Administrator Michael Martucci and Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions (OASES) Associate Administrator Teresa Booeshaghi witnessed the technology demonstrations from researchers at Dartmouth College and Drexel University. The Trump EPA is committed to harnessing gold standard science and unleashing American innovation to reduce lead exposure, especially for young kids, who are particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards. 

“EPA’s Lead Service Line Test Bed provides researchers with a dedicated space to evaluate innovative technologies under controlled conditions and asses their potential to address a critical public health challenge,” said Teresa Booeshaghi, Associate Administrator of OASES. “By advancing the science behind lead service line identification we can help more reliably address the issue while reducing the need for expensive excavation.”  

“You can’t replace what you can’t find. Giving water systems better, less labor-intensive ways to locate lead pipes could make a tremendous difference for communities across the country,” said Michael Martucci, EPA Region 2 Administrator. “This is EPA putting gold-standard science to work on a serious, costly problem that cities across America have struggled with for decades.” 

EPA opened the Lead Service Line Identification Test Bed at the Edison Environmental Center in 2025 to advance the evaluation of accurate, reliable, and minimally invasive methods for locating lead service lines. 

Dartmouth University researchers demonstrated their electromagnetic induction (EMI) technology, which uses electromagnetic fields to induce and measure responses from buried metal pipes. Researchers analyze these responses to help distinguish pipe materials, including lead and copper, without exposing the pipes. Drexel’s team demonstrated their stress wave technology, which uses mechanical vibrations to help locate lead service lines. The researchers generate the vibrations by striking an extension rod connected to an accessible service line valve. The ground sensors capture signals traveling through the pipe and surrounding soil to help distinguish lead from non-lead service lines. 

Service lines are the pipes that carry drinking water from water mains to buildings, including homes, schools, and offices. If a service line is made of lead, it can pose serious health risks, particularly for young children. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, public water systems are required to submit inventories of what their service lines are made of, including lead, as a first step in protecting the people they serve.

The vast majority of water systems—more than 97 percent—have completed these initial inventories. Technologies like those developed by Dartmouth and Drexel are making it easier and more cost-effective for water systems to identify exactly where those lead service lines are located. EPA’s Test Bed provides an important platform for researchers and businesses to test their technologies and demonstrate proof of concept.

While not a certification program, the test bed provides a stable location with controlled conditions to evaluate potential technologies. EPA’s inclusion of Dartmouth College and Drexel University does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or certification by EPA.  

Learn more about EPA’s Lead Service Line Identification Test Bed.  

Background  

Since the 1970s, EPA has worked alongside partners at the federal, state, Tribal, and local levels to protect children’s health and make progress in reducing lead exposures and lead-related health risks. Despite improvements over the last 50 years, ongoing exposures to lead where our families live, work, and play present a health risk, especially to children.   

To combat this issue, in 2025 the Trump EPA reestablished a committee of senior leaders across the agency’s program offices and ten regions to drive success in reducing children’s exposure to lead. This renewed agency-wide focus is centered around strengthening cooperative federalism, streamlining actionable risk communications, and unleashing private sector innovation to protect human health and the environment.   

Please see epa.gov/lead for additional information.