CRESCO, Iowa — If you come to this rural Iowa town, you’ll learn about a problem that may sound familiar.

In the New York Times, for instance, you have learned that many residents in Newark, New Jersey, have gone nearly two years since they could turn on the faucets in their homes to take a drink of water, cook, or even brush their teeth. The culprit: Lead-coated pipes that have begun seeping their poisons into the homes and schools in a scattering of neighborhoods.