Check Your Pipes Kentucky

Check Your Pipes, KY is an initiative to assist water utilities and homeowners reduce the risk of lead exposure in drinking water. The EPA has a new regulation that requires water systems to find lead pipes and make a plan to remove them. Read on to learn how you can help!

Your water utility regularly tests your drinking water for a wide range of contaminants. Lead is one of the contaminants tested for regularly, as its health impacts are serious. Fortunately, we know a lot about lead — how to find it and how to reduce or eliminate its hazards. Water utilities can pinpoint and eliminate sources of lead in their systems but drinking water may still be contaminated by lead in home plumbing pipes and fixtures.

The water provided by your drinking water utility is lead-free. Lead enters drinking water when plumbing materials that contain lead corrode, especially where the water has high acidity or low mineral content that corrodes pipes and fixtures. The most common sources of lead in drinking water are lead pipes, faucets, and fixtures. In homes with lead pipes that connect the home to the water main, also known as lead services lines, these pipes are typically the most significant source of lead in the water.  

Water service lines are the underground pipes that connect home plumbing systems to public water mains. Water service lines can be made of plastic, copper, galvanized steel or iron, and lead, and metal pipes may use lead in soldered joints.

Lead Service Lines (LSLs) were installed up until the 1960s, and while many have been replaced, there are still large numbers in use. There are limited records on water service lines on private property as many were installed decades ago and may have been tampered with or replaced since then. The only way to properly identify and inventory LSLs is with property-by-property assessing. The EPA has made the finding and replacement of LSLs a public health priority.

Find the water service line entering your house as close as possible to the POE (close to where it comes through the foundation wall or slab). The incoming water service in your home may come up from the basement floor or out of a wall in the basement. If you have a crawlspace, it will come out of the floor. If your house is on a slab, it will come up through the main floor, typically in a utility closet.

• Use a key or coin to scratch the pipe close to where it enters the house through the wall or floor.
• What color is the pipe underneath?
• If it is shiny and orange like a penny, you do not have a lead service line in your home.
• If the pipe is grey, you may have a lead service line.

• Hold a magnet to your service line.
• If a magnet will stick, you have a steel service line.
• You may also have plastic pipe which may be red, blue, black, or white. The magnet will not stick.
• If a magnet won't stick, and it is not obviously plastic, you may have a lead service line.

A licensed plumber can easily identify what type of material your service line is made of and assess your fittings for lead.

If you believe you have a lead service line or fittings, you should take action to reduce exposure and coordinate with your utility.

Once you have determined what type of material your service line is made of, it is important to report that information to your water utility, even if it is not lead. Reach out to your utility and let them know that you have identified your pipe material.

This information will be used to determine the scale of the lead pipe issue in your community and may be used to determine funding for assistance programs to replace the lead lines. This information will be critical in determining how regulators, utilities, and customers can properly address the problem. Your utility may also know of potential sources of funding too assist with homeowner costs of lead service line replacements.

Here are some things you can do to reduce your exposure if you think your home’s plumbing may have lead.

• When water hasn’t been used for several hours, run all taps used for drinking and cooking. The flushing process could take from 30 seconds to 2 minutes or longer until it becomes cold or reaches a steady temperature. This will help flush old water and bring up fresh water from the water main. To conserve water, collect the water used to flush your pipes for bathing, laundry, or watering plants.
• Never use hot tap water for drinking, cooking, or making baby formula. Hot water dissolves and carries lead more easily.
• Boiling water won’t remove lead and may even increase its concentration. The only way to remove lead from water is through filtering.
• Water filters: There are a wide variety of water filters on the market – from simple pour-through pitcher style filters to professionally installed plumbed-in filter systems. Some filters can reduce lead, but if you’re considering this route, be sure to choose one that is tested and certified, like the NSF standard 53. For more information on filters visit  NSF.org  – NSF International provides consumer information about water filter capabilities, including those that claim to reduce lead. The NSF can also be reached at 800-NSF-8010.

 Kentucky Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (KCLPPP)  is part of the Healthy Homes Initiative and offers a comprehensive approach to primary and secondary prevention of childhood and prenatal lead poisoning and other housing-related health hazards.

The  US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lead website  contains information relating to all potential exposure routes for lead and what communities can do to address these issues.

The EPA's  Protect Your Tap  guide will help you determine if you have a lead service line bringing water into your home. It uses pictures, step-by-step directions to identify lead service lines, provides tips to reduce lead exposure, information on testing your water, and resources to  learn more .

The  CDC's Lead in Drinking Water  resource page contains information about the risks of lead and steps that you should consider to help reduce exposure.

Reach out to the Kentucky Division of Water's   Drinking Water Branch   to learn more about your water and what you can do to keep it clean.

•   Information for Consumers  
•   Information for Water Treatment Professionals  
•   Information for Private Well Owners  
•   Source Water Protection  
•   Voluntary Lead Testing in Schools 

 Contact your utility  or a licenced plumber for assistance in identifying your service line material. Simply click on the map to find contact information for the utilities in your area.