• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Departments
    • Bioengineering
    • Civil and Environmental Engineering
    • Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
    • Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
    • Materials Science and Engineering
    • Mechanical Engineering
    • Nuclear Engineering
    • Aerospace program
    • Engineering Science program
  • News
    • Berkeley Engineer magazine
    • Social media
    • News videos
    • News digest (email)
    • Press kit
  • Events
    • Events calendar
    • Commencement
    • Homecoming
    • Cal Day
    • Space reservations
    • View from the Top
    • Kuh Lecture Series
    • Minner Lecture
  • College directory
  • For staff & faculty
Berkeley Engineering

Educating leaders. Creating knowledge. Serving society.

  • About
    • Facts & figures
    • Rankings
    • Mission & values
    • Equity & inclusion
    • Voices of Berkeley Engineering
    • Leadership team
    • Milestones
    • Buildings & facilities
    • Maps
  • Admissions
    • Undergraduate admissions
    • Graduate admissions
    • New students
    • Visit
    • Maps
    • Admissions events
    • K-12 outreach
  • Academics
    • Undergraduate programs
    • Majors & minors
    • Undergraduate Guide
    • Graduate programs
    • Graduate Guide
    • Innovation & entrepreneurship
    • Kresge Engineering Library
    • International programs
    • Executive education
  • Students
    • New students
    • Advising & counseling
    • ESS programs
    • CAEE academic support
    • Student life
    • Wellness & inclusion
    • Undergraduate Guide
    • > Degree requirements
    • > Policies & procedures
    • Forms & petitions
    • Resources
  • Research & faculty
    • Centers & institutes
    • Undergrad research
    • Faculty
    • Sustainability and resiliency
  • Connect
    • Alumni
    • Industry
    • Give
    • Stay in touch
Home > News > Get the lead out
Photo of water pipe cross-sections

Get the lead out

Fall 2019 Berkeley Engineer cover
October 25, 2019
This article appeared in Berkeley Engineer magazine, Fall 2019
  • In this issue

    Features

    New frontiers in gene editing

    Keeping edited cells healthy

    Moments of untruth

    At fault

    Dean’s note

    Upfront

    • Separate ways
    • Roach-inspired robot
    • Better eye screening
    • Mass-producing biomaterials
    • Mirror mirror
    • New master’s degree programs
    • Get the lead out
    • A surprising twist

    New & noteworthy

    • Streets named Pew Scholar
    • Alum honored as MEMS pioneer
    • Two faculty named top innovators
    • Farewell

    Download this issue

  • Past issues

More than 18 million people in the United States are at risk from water pipes that leach lead, which can cause brain damage, learning problems, premature births and high blood pressure, among other serious health effects. But the process for replacing entire municipal water systems can be very expensive and slow, as seen in Flint, Michigan, and more recently in Newark, New Jersey. Now, researchers led by Ashok Gadgil, professor of civil and environmental engineering, have devised a novel solution to this problem. The team found that when a low voltage power source, about 1V, is connected to a lead pipe filled with a harmless phosphate solution and to a conductive wire within the pipe, an insoluble lead phosphate layer rapidly forms on the inside surfaces of the pipe. In about two hours, the power source and the wire can be disconnected and removed. The newly formed protective scale results in a 99% reduction of lead leaching rates, according to preliminary laboratory experiments performed on lead pipes without any scale. While pipe replacement remains the best solution, this technology could be an important stopgap for communities where timely pipe replacement is not economically feasible.

Topics: Health, Civil engineering, Infrastructure
  • Contact
  • Give
  • Privacy
  • UC Berkeley
  • Accessibility
  • Nondiscrimination
  • instagram
  • X logo
  • linkedin
  • facebook
  • youtube
© 2025 UC Regents