Denver Water just delivered a pitcher to my home. Why, and what do I do with it?

Water filter pitchers have started to arrive at Denver homes, and tens of thousands more families will receive them in coming months.

Here’s why and what residents should do with their new pitchers.

Denver Water recently launched a 15-year plan to replace all lead service pipes connecting homes to water mains, estimating that up to 84,000 homes receive water through lead pipes. Over the next decade and a half the utility plans to replace those service lines one by one, but in the meantime it will distribute water filters to more than 100,000 homes as a safety precaution.

“It’ll go into the summer before we get them all out and distributed,” said Travis Thompson, a Denver Water spokesperson.

The pitchers have nothing to do with the novel coronavirus pandemic, Thompson said.

They should be used for any water that will be consumed in any way, he said, from making drinks like coffee, tea and lemonade to preparing food such as baby formula, pasta, beans and rice. And, of course, drinking water should be filtered.

Water in homes with lead service lines can contain levels of the heavy metal, which has been linked to developmental disabilities and other long-term health problems.

Each pitcher will come with a set of instructions that should be followed closely, Thompson said.

Every six months Denver water will send out replacement cartridges for the filters. Those deliveries will continue until lead service lines are replaced, and the filters should continue to be used for an additional six months after service lines are replaced.

Residents will know when their service lines are replaced, Thompson said.

“We’ll be working with you pretty closely at that point,” he said.

Additional information on the replacement project and which homes will receive filters is available at denverwater.org/lead.