Thousands of homeowners are facing bills of around €5,000 to replace lead pipes in their home.

There is no safe level of lead in water, and it can cause developmental delays in children. If your house was built before the 1970s, there is a good chance it has lead piping.

A simple way of checking your pipes is to scrape the pipe gently with a coin, and if a shiny silver strip is revealed, then it is lead.

The cost of replacing the mains pipe in the average home is around €5,000.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly says low income households will get grants.

Around 200,000 homes across the country - most of which were built before the 1970s - have lead pipes for their water which can cause health problems.

This could result in the presence of lead in the drinking water.

Bottle-fed infants are said to be especially at risk because for the first four to six months, all of their food comes from milk-formula - which is made up of drinking water.

Irish Water identified the issue through its metering programme, but they are only responsible for pipes up to the boundary of a home.

An information campaign is being launched in the next few weeks to contact those affected.

Professor Kevin Kelleher from the Health Service Executive (HSE) says it is particularly bad for young babies who have been bottle fed.

Irish Water says there are a number of measures people can take to eliminate or limit the amount of lead in the drinking water.

It also has this advice for homeowners:

• Check your plumbing for lead
• Read the HSE Lead in Drinking Water FAQs available at www.hse.ie/water
• If you choose to replace your lead pipes within your property, Irish Water will replace the public connection if it is made of lead
• If you are renting, pass this information on to the property owner
• If you are the owner and are renting or selling this property, pass this information on to the new occupants

The company says if people are unsure, they can contact Irish Water on 1890-278-278, or 01-707-2828.

Jerry Grant is head of asset management with Irish Water.

He told Newstalk Breakfast earlier that homeowners can get tests done to find out if they are at risk.