No. Not the water service, which is the pipe people mean when they say lead water pipe. That line runs from the city watermain to the meter in your house. Part of it is in the street. Part of it is in your lawn. Neither part is a DIY job in Toronto.
Toronto Lead Pipe Solutions does this work with licensed plumbers, a city permit, and a shutoff arranged with Toronto Water. The reasons you don't want to attempt it are practical, not a sales pitch.
The city controls the part you can't see
From the watermain to the property line, the service belongs to the city. The curb stop, the valve near the sidewalk that turns your water off, is theirs. You don't operate it, you don't dig in the road allowance for it, and you don't tie a new pipe into the main. That work is Toronto Water's, done on their schedule, sometimes coordinated with a private-side replacement so both halves are done close together.
The private half is on your land, and it is still regulated. Replacing it needs a plumbing permit. Toronto expects the new service to be Type K copper, buried below frost, and inspected before the trench is closed and the water stays on. If the work was never permitted, the city can refuse to restore service, and a buyer's lawyer or inspector will eventually ask why there is no record of the replacement.
What goes wrong in the hole
Before anyone digs in Ontario, the law requires a locate through Ontario One Call. Gas, hydro, cable, and the sewer are often in the same boulevard as the water service. A locate is not optional colour on the grass. It is how you avoid a gas line.
Depth is the next surprise. A Toronto water service is commonly a metre and a half down or more, not a shallow irrigation line. An unsupported trench at that depth can collapse. Doing it by hand, alone, on a Saturday, is how people get hurt.
Lead itself is a bad material to improvise with. Do not heat it. A torch on a lead pipe makes lead fumes. Cutting it still makes dust and chips. Those should not end up in the new pipe, in the soil where kids play, or in a shop vac you dump in the garden. The old pipe should be removed and disposed of, not left as a stub because the last metre was hard to reach.
The worst DIY outcome is a partial connection
A common shortcut is to cut the lead where it enters the basement and clamp copper or PEX onto whatever is left. That leaves lead in the yard, which is the part that actually feeds the house, and it can raise the lead in the water. Freshly cut lead leaches more. Copper pressed against remaining lead can corrode the lead faster. You did a weekend of work and made the drinking water worse.
Interior plumbing past the meter is a separate question. A homeowner in Ontario can do some work inside a house they live in, and a lot of municipalities still want a permit for it. That is not permission to replace the buried service. Supply tubes under a sink are not the water service.
What is worth doing yourself
- Find the pipe at the water meter, where it comes through the foundation. Scratch it with a key. Lead is dull grey, soft, and shines silver where you scratch it. A magnet will not stick.
- Until it is replaced, drink and cook from the cold tap only, flush it in the morning, and use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead if you want a temporary barrier.
- Photograph the meter pipe and the path across the lawn. That saves time on the quote. It is not a substitute for locates.
- Ask the city whether their half has already been replaced. If it has, your half is the remaining lead.
Then stop. The permit, the locate, the shutoff, the copper, the inspection, and the backfill are the job.
If you want it done in a day and signed off, call Toronto Lead Pipe Solutions at (647) 424-5121. The inspection of the pipe at the meter is free, and the price is in writing before the ground opens.
Written by Toronto Lead Pipe Solutions Team