Connecticut Water Needs to Know the Material of Your Water Service Line

CLINTON, CONN., July 1, 2024 — As Connecticut Water continues work on a service line inventory as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, the company needs customer assistance to identify the materials of your water service line, which will be included on a publicly accessible inventory by October 16, 2024.

The inventory, required by all water utilities across the nation, is part of efforts to protect communities from lead exposure in drinking water.
A service line is the pipe that runs from the water main in the street to a customer’s home. Connecticut Water owns and maintains the infrastructure and pipes up to the curb valve, which is typically located near the customer’s property line, with the property owner responsible for pipes between the property line and the home, as well as inside the home.

Though Connecticut banned the continued use of lead pipes in 1986, many homes do not contain records on the material of their water service lines. Identifying all water lines, including any that may be made of lead, helps provide water utilities with information on how to best serve customers, and will be required by this EPA regulation.

“Identifying outdated materials is the first step toward removing them from the water distribution system,” said Rose Gavrilovic, Vice President of Service Delivery at Connecticut Water. “But we also want the community to know that lead levels in Connecticut Water’s drinking water are not a public health concern. Our state banned the installation of lead water service lines in the 1980s, and we use corrosion control methods to protect our drinking water from risk from any outdated pipes that remain in service.”

Connecticut Water has gathered information from a variety of sources including public records and our own records, but there are still water service lines where the material has not been identified. Beginning this month, the company will be contacting customers via email, mail and text message with step-by-step instructions and a survey that will help customers identify their service line material to help complete the company inventory. Customers are strongly encouraged to participate in the survey.

For more information visit:  ctwater.com/inventory