There is a long history of lead pipes being used for drinking water distribution, in Canada and around the world. Many homeowners – with the financial fortitude to do so – have replaced them with specialized plastic over the years but lead pipes still remain in many Canadian homes. Lead pipes are susceptible to corrosion due to the ions present in water, which can cause the lead to leach out of the piping and into the water. To try to prevent this leaching, historically some of the lead pipes in Canada were exchanged with copper pipes. However, when the replacement was only partial, the new connection of copper to lead accelerated the problem through galvanic corrosion.