Lead is a metal with many attractive features such as abundance, low cost, andrnuseful physical properties. Lead and its compounds have been widely used in arnvariety of products including paint, ceramics, pipes, solders, gasoline, batteries,rnand cosmetics. On the other hand, lead is a highly toxic substance, exposure tornwhich can produce a wide range of adverse health effects. Consequently,rnextensive studies aimed at assessing the degree of awareness of its toxicity andrndetermining the levels and forms of lead in various matrices have been made.rnIn many countries regulatory standards together with education and monitoringrnsystem have helped to minimize or eliminate the amount of lead in consumerrnproducts and occupational settings. But, a requisite step to prevent or reducernlead exposure is creating awareness among the general public, especially thernmost vulnerable groups. To this end, the lead-acid battery charging garages andrnworkshops located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia were considered key routes ofrnhuman exposure to lead and sources of lead to the environment. Consequently,rnthese settings were surveyed to gain understanding on the level of awareness byrnworkers and handling and disposal of exhausted batteries. It was concluded thatrnlead is widely emitted to the environment by lead-acid battery charging garagesrnand workshops in Addis Ababa.rnThe results of the survey study partly warrant the determination of lead in waterrnbecause water is the ultimate recipient of all forms of pollution in thernenvironment. Hence, the second phase of this study involved determination ofrnlead in piped drinking water in Addis Ababa.rnFrom the water analysis conducted, the mean concentrations of lead in rawrnwaters from Dire, Gefersa and Legedadi reservoirs were 30.18 Â± 3.44, 14.98 Â±rn1.55 and 21.46 Â± 1.73 (mean Â± Standard deviation, SD) gPb/L, respectively. Allrnsamples taken from the Akaki ground water reservoirs contained higher valuesrnviiirnthan WHO recommended level of 10 g Pb/L. However, the lead level in samplesrncollected from the reservoirs receiving water from spring and spring-well wasrnfound within the WHO recommended limit.rnThe first drawn water samples were observed to contain higher Pb content thanrnthe second and the third drawn samples in a remarkable segment of thernreservoirs connected to Akakai (71.43%), Geferesa (50%), and Legedadirn(81.8%), which showed significant accumulation of lead within the water deliveryrnsystem. About 89.29%, 80.65% and 86.49% of households supplied water fromrnAkaki boreholes, Gefersa and Legedadi, respectively, were observed to receivernmean Pb concentrations higher than the permissible level of 10 gPb/L.rnThe mean concentrations of Pb in the samples taken from the treatment plantsrnright after the treatment were (mean Â± SD): 15.66 Â± 2.31 (Gefersa) and 13.85 Â±rn1.73 (Legedadi). In most samples drawn from randomly selected households, thernmean concentrations of Pb increased beyond the concentrations determined inrnthe respective reservoirs (6.70 Â± 0.30 - 53.71 Â± 4.20, mean Â± SD), showingrnPotential contamination from the water distribution system.