How to determine if your water service line is lead

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — A Columbus program worth over $1 billion will identify and replace lead water service lines on public and private properties in the area, and the city has provided instructions on how to determine what type of water line you have.

Columbus’ lead service line replacement program was put into a new chapter of city code on Monday, approved with a vote by Columbus City Council. The city introduced its pilot version of the plan in May, and this allows the Department of Public Utilities to create the official program. With the pilot planned to last through 2025, according to the water division, the larger program is hoped to start the same year.

Despite Columbus stopping the use of lead as an approved material in 1963, the city’s water division said there are around 25,000 lead service lines still active, and another 12,500 galvanized downstream of lead, meaning they’re considered lead-contaminated. This program — which will cost approximately $1.2 billion — is meant to find and replace those lines.

“We treat the water really, really effectively,” Emilie Eskridge of the water division said in May. “Just because you have a lead service line, just because you have a galvanized service line, doesn’t mean there’s lead in your water. We do a really good job of effective treatment, but the existence is still there.”

To implement this part of city code, Columbus is declaring lead service lines in its water systems to be a public nuisance.

To catalog both public and private water lines contaminated with lead, Columbus is keeping a service line material inventory. Residents are asked to report their home water line material using this form. The city also provided three simple steps to identify what’s in their service line using just a Flathead screwdriver, refrigerator magnet and a penny.

The Department of Public Utilities also has an interactive map that shows where there could be lead water service lines in Columbus. To learn more about the city’s program to replace lines contaminated with lead, click here.

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