A controversy rages between the drinking water industry, trying to protect the quality of drinking water, and the fire suppression system industry trying to protect buildings from loss due to fires. The controversy centers around the use of nonpotable, black iron pipe being used in wet-charged fire suppression systems, which are fed by public drinking water systems. Test conducted have shown alarmingly elevated levels of lead and other heavy metal contaminants both upstream and downstream of the fire alarm check valve separating the drinking water system from the wet-charged fire suppression system. Interestingly enough, the drinking water people contend that the elevated contaminant levels are from the water leaching these heavy metals from the non-potable, black iron pipe used in the fire suppression system; and the fire suppression system people contend that the source of the heavy metals is from the drinking water supply itself. This paper discusses a study which was conducted to determine if a hazard does indeed exist, and also reports on the official conclusions of the study.