"There currently is a troubling lack of requirements for landlords or property managers to disclose toxic lead contributors in a piping system," Pipe Restoration Technologies CEO Larry Gillanders said. "This leaves the tenant or home buyer in the dark and at risk. I believe an owner of a residential building has a duty to disclose known water quality issues to a prospective purchaser or tenant, and could potentially be liable for rescission or damages for failure to disclose and for injury resulting from known unsafe drinking water."

Many American insurance companies issued policies in the mid-1990s that excluded coverage for lead-based liabilities, and some of the exclusions were written vaguely to apply to lead paint as well as lead leached in water.

These lead liability exclusions often include language such as: This insurance does not apply to actual or alleged bodily injury related or attributed to, arising out of resulting from or in any way caused by the ingestion, inhalation or absorption of lead in any form, as well as property damage, personal injury, medical expenses or any loss at all.

However, with the absence of water quality and lead contributor disclosures, laws are sometimes implemented in an effort to deal with the problem.

In July 2016, the State of Rhode Island passed The Lead and Copper Drinking Water Protection Act, which states: "Prior to the sale or rental of any dwelling, the water shall be tested for lead and copper and said results, as well as a disclosure of the status and condition of the lead service line shall be included in any rental agreement or purchase and sale agreement."

The Act also focused on reducing the current lead action level for lead in the drinking water from its current level of 15 ppb to a level of 10 ppb or less. Other countries, including Canada, the European Union, UK, Mexico and China, are already observing the World Health Organization's 10 ppb cut off level for lead.

Until the disclosure of lead piping, lead contributors and water quality is included as part of a disclosure process, PRT advises homeowners to ask the sellers to have the property inspected for lead contributors in the piping system and have the water tested at a certified testing facility to check for the presence of lead.

Properties built before 1950, depending on its location, could be served with a lead service line. Houses built in the 1950s through the mid-1990s may also be exposed to lead leaching from lead contributors, such as lead solder on copper pipes and brass fixtures.