Loading water data...
473 Tennessee water systems have inventoried 2,884,843 service lines for EPA. 23,018 (0.8%) are confirmed lead and 621,707 (22%) are still of unknown material. Below: every large or city-linked Tennessee utility ranked by lead lines.
Tennessee water systems reported 23,018 lead service lines and 41,117 galvanized lines requiring replacement as of Q2 2026 — 0.8% of the 2,884,843 lines inventoried and 1.1% of the national lead total, ranking #14 of 51. MEMPHIS LIGHT, GAS, & WATER reports the most in the state (17,022).
MEMPHIS LIGHT, GAS, & WATER (17,022), METRO WATER SERVICES (2,818), TENNESSEE AMERICAN WATER (2,368) lead the list; 23 Tennessee systems report at least one lead line in total.
Find your utility in the table below, then check its published service line inventory (most utilities post an address-lookup map) or call the number on your water bill. Utilities must notify customers whose line is lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement or unknown. You can also test the pipe entering your home: lead is soft, dull gray, non-magnetic and turns shiny when scratched.
Under EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, systems must replace lead and galvanized-requiring-replacement lines within 10 years starting in 2027; systems with very high counts can receive longer deadlines. Ask your utility for its replacement plan and whether it covers the homeowner-owned portion.
Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead for drinking and cooking, flush the tap after water has sat for hours, never use hot tap water for drinking or infant formula, and confirm your actual level with a certified lab test.
Source: EPA SDWIS Service Line Inventory, Q2 2026 snapshot (updated 2026-08-18). Counts are service lines, not people.
472 of the 473 Tennessee systems in EPA's Q2 2026 report have filed line counts. The 23,018 confirmed lead lines and 41,117 galvanized lines requiring replacement come from 23 systems — 4.9% of those reporting — so lead pipe in Tennessee is concentrated in a small share of systems. 621,707 lines (22%) are still of unknown material, close to the national share of 22%.
Treat "unknown" as the operative number. Under EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR), every community water system had to submit an initial service line inventory by October 16, 2024, and lines whose material could not be documented were reported as unknown. The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), finalized in October 2024, require systems to keep identifying those lines, to notify customers served by a lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement or unknown line, and to replace lead and galvanized-requiring-replacement lines — generally within 10 years of the rule's November 1, 2027 compliance date. The LCRI also lowers the lead action level from 15 to 10 ppb. For Tennessee, that makes the 621,707 unknown lines (22%) the pool from which future confirmed-lead counts will be drawn.
Among the 2 Tennessee utilities linked to a city report on this site, 2 report at least one lead or galvanized-requiring-replacement line. The largest — METRO WATER SERVICES (778,153 served) and MEMPHIS LIGHT, GAS, & WATER (659,500 served) — report 2,818 lead + 21,855 GRR and 17,022 lead + 532 GRR respectively.
Your own answer is one lookup away: search your utility's service line inventory (usually an address map on its website), or read the water system name and lead results in your latest Consumer Confidence Report. Customers on a lead, galvanized-requiring-replacement or unknown line must be notified by the utility. Failing that, scratch the pipe at the water meter — lead is soft, dull gray, non-magnetic and turns shiny where scratched.
EPA's rule text and timelines are on its Lead and Copper Rule Improvements page. While your line is unverified, our best water filters for lead guide covers NSF/ANSI 53-certified options, and the lead in drinking water guide explains testing and health thresholds.
EPA SDWIS Service Line Inventory, Q2 2026 snapshot (updated 2026-08-18); regulatory dates from EPA's LCRR/LCRI pages.
Community systems serving 50,000+ people plus systems linked to a city report on this site (31 shown). State totals above include every reporting system.
| # | Water system | Status | Lead | GRR | Unknown | Total lines | City report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MEMPHIS LIGHT, GAS, & WATER TN0000450 · 659,500 served | Lead service lines present | 17,022 | 532 | 164,591 | 309,317 | Memphis → |
| 2 | METRO WATER SERVICES TN0000494 · 778,153 served | Lead service lines present | 2,818 | 21,855 | 76,180 | 218,530 | Nashville → |
| 3 | TENNESSEE AMERICAN WATER TN0000107 · 207,046 served | Lead service lines present | 2,368 | 0 | 43,208 | 91,571 | |
| 4 | JACKSON WATER SYSTEM TN0000299 · 91,111 served | Lead service lines present | 1 | 52 | 22,704 | 38,728 | |
| 5 | KINGSPORT WATER DEPT TN0000349 · 107,739 served | Many lines still unverified | 0 | 0 | 27,457 | 38,574 | |
| 6 | JOHNSON CITY WATER DEPT TN0000331 · 105,057 served | Many lines still unverified | 0 | 0 | 22,270 | 46,701 | |
| 7 | HIXSON UTILITY DISTRICT TN0000303 · 68,306 served | Many lines still unverified | 0 | 0 | 18,369 | 29,783 | |
| 8 | WHITE HOUSE UTILITY DISTRICT TN0000745 · 130,411 served | Many lines still unverified | 0 | 0 | 17,729 | 41,342 | |
| 9 | CLEVELAND UTILITIES TN0000117 · 95,087 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 4 | 15,476 | 35,826 | |
| 10 | EASTSIDE UTILITY DISTRICT TN0000219 · 59,612 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 57 | 6,178 | 24,694 | |
| 11 | GALLATIN WATER DEPARTMENT TN0000253 · 65,964 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 927 | 3,830 | 19,565 | |
| 12 | COLLIERVILLE WATER DEPT TN0000126 · 51,972 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 2,957 | 19,864 | |
| 13 | LEBANON WATER SYSTEM TN0000393 · 60,669 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 1,725 | 13 | 13,055 | |
| 14 | KNOXVILLE UTILITIES BOARD - KUB TN0000366 · 254,671 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95,350 | |
| 15 | CLARKSVILLE WATER DEPARTMENT TN0000116 · 251,864 served | Lead service lines present | 0 | 3,296 | 0 | 88,305 | |
| 16 | CONSOLIDATED U.D. OF RUTHERFORD CO TN0000791 · 221,871 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71,130 | |
| 17 | FIRST U.D. OF KNOX COUNTY TN0000369 · 115,531 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36,695 | |
| 18 | MURFREESBORO WATER DEPARTMENT TN0000491 · 114,331 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27,931 | |
| 19 | WEST WILSON UTILITY DISTRICT TN0000743 · 86,978 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28,662 | |
| 20 | COLUMBIA POWER AND WATER SYSTEMS TN0000128 · 84,617 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25,652 | |
| 21 | HALLSDALE-POWELL U.D. TN0000280 · 84,315 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33,780 | |
| 22 | MADISON SUBURBAN U.D. TN0000424 · 81,203 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21,748 | |
| 23 | WEST KNOX UTILITY DISTRICT TN0000371 · 77,825 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29,402 | |
| 24 | FRANKLIN WATER DEPT TN0000246 · 77,222 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18,907 | |
| 25 | WATER AUTH OF DICKSON COUNTY TN0000191 · 68,675 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,229 | |
| 26 | SPRING HILL WATER DEPT TN0000667 · 65,840 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39,715 | |
| 27 | HARPETH VALLEY U.D. TN0000286 · 65,518 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,093 | |
| 28 | SMYRNA WATER SYSTEM TN0000639 · 60,876 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,752 | |
| 29 | HENDERSONVILLE U.D. TN0000294 · 59,034 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17,454 | |
| 30 | BARTLETT WATER SYSTEM TN0000765 · 57,129 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,487 | |
| 31 | SOUTH BLOUNT UTILITY DISTRICT TN0000643 · 53,864 served | No lead service lines reported | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17,698 |
A lead or unknown service line means lead can enter water after it leaves the treatment plant, so city-level test results understate what reaches your tap. Filter drinking and cooking water with an NSF/ANSI 53 lead-certified system, and see the lead in drinking water guide or Tennessee city water reports.
We may earn a commission from filters purchased through these links, at no extra cost to you.