Unknown Service Line Letter

YOUR WATER SERVICE LINE MAY CONTAIN LEAD.

PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE AND
SHARE WITH ANYONE USING WATER AT THIS PROPERTY.

PROPERTY MANAGERS ARE REQUIRED TO POST AND
SHARE WITH RESIDENTS AND TENANTS.

WSSC Water is proud to participate in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) enhanced Lead and Copper Rule, an important national public health initiative to remove lead from America’s drinking water. While WSSC Water removed all known lead pipes on the utility side of the water distribution system in the early 2000s, this multi-year EPA rule focuses on identifying water service line pipe materials, including those that are customer owned, on private property.

As part of this effort, we have extensively reviewed plumbing records dating back more than 100 years and created an inventory of the materials used for utility- and customer-owned water service lines. A water service line is the pipe that carries water from WSSC Water’s water main to your property. A portion of the water service line is utility owned while the other portion is customer owned. 

Unfortunately, our extensive records review did not identify the material of your water service line. However, since WSSC Water banned the use of lead as a water service line construction material in 1954, the likelihood of finding a lead water service line is low. In fact, more than 96 percent of water service lines in our service area are not lead. To ensure your safety, we strongly encourage you to help us verify your water service line pipe material. 

Contained in this letter is information on how to verify your water service line pipe material. People living in homes with a lead service line may have an increased risk of exposure to lead from their drinking water.

WHAT'S YOUR PIPE TYPE?

To help identify your water service line pipe material, we have developed a user-friendly online inventory map where you can type in your address to see that your water service line is identified as unknown. The designation of unknown means that the utility-owned water service line may be unknown, the customer-owned water service line may be unknown, or both sides may be unknown. We ask that you complete a survey to help identify the water service line material. You will be prompted to complete a survey to help identify the water service line material. If you have difficulty filling out this survey, please contact us at the email below and we would be happy to assist. A link to access the map, survey and instructions on how to verify your pipe material can be found at the QR code here and wsscwater.com/pipetype. If you do not have internet access, please email us at PipeType@wsscwater.com. After you complete the survey, we will carefully analyze your information and inform you of the results.

NOTE: If the map indicates that the unknown portion is the utility side, WSSC Water will inspect this of the water service line to determine the pipe material. Once pipe verification is complete on our side, we will inform you of the results and discuss next steps. You are still encouraged to complete the survey to verify customer-owned water service line pipe material.

VERIFICATION, REPLACEMENT & FUNDING

Completing the survey will assist in our pipe verification efforts. If we verify that your water service line material contains lead, WSSC Water strongly recommends replacing this line. We plan to begin replacing lead service lines in 2025, ahead of the EPA requirement of 2027. Our goal is to complete all lead service line replacements by the EPA requirement date of 2037. If your water service line is verified as lead and you plan to replace the portion that you own (customer side), please notify us as the EPA requires that we replace the utility-owned water service line. A graphic showing the public and privately-owned portions of a water service line is available at wsscwater.com/serviceline. We are also developing a financial assistance program to aid in the cost of replacing the customer-owned portion of the water service line and will post more information on our website once plans are finalized: wsscwater.com/pipetype

TAKING ACTION TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH

Even if your water service line contains lead, it does not necessarily mean lead is present in your drinking water. WSSC Water carefully filters and expertly treats all drinking water to ensure safety and quality. Water leaving our filtration plants is free of lead. To minimize the risk of lead dissolving into the water from plumbing materials, we add a corrosion inhibitor, orthophosphate, to the water supply to create a protective coating on the inside of pipes (including those on the customer's property).

MORE THAN A CENTURY OF PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH  

For more than 107 years, WSSC Water has taken proactive steps to ensure water quality and safety. These public safety measures are showing clear results. Our water meets all the EPA's Safe Drinking Water Act standards. We have never had a drinking water quality violation in our history. Additionally, in our latest round of lead and copper testing from homes throughout our service area, our results were well below the action levels set by the EPA.  

Read our Water Quality Report. 
 
We understand that learning your water service line may contain lead can be concerning. Please email PipeType@wsscwater.com, or visit wsscwater.com/pipetype if you have questions or need more information. We are here to help.

Sincerely,
Bilal Sarayra, P.E. 
Lead Service Line Replacement Program Manager
301-206-7200