Newark's Drinking Water Problem: Lead And Unreliable Filters

Lead contamination in the drinking water in Newark, N.J., is not a new problem, but the city's fleeting solution has become newly problematic.

Officials in Newark, the state's largest city, which supplies water to some 280,000 people, began to hand out bottled water Monday.

That's because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concerns about water filters that the city distributed to residents.

Last fall, Newark gave out more than 40,000 water filters, even going door to door to reach families with lead service lines. The toxin is believed to have leached into drinking water through the old pipes between water treatment plants and people's homes. Free filters and cartridges would remove 99% of lead, the city of Newark said.