City implements federal lead and copper rules

The City of Galveston has implemented new federal lead and copper rules, and some homeowners may soon receive notices about forthcoming inspections of their water line.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently updated their standards to protect communities from the risks of lead exposure from drinking water. These new standards - the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions - require all drinking water utilities in the United States to take new actions and begin additional communications with customers.

Over the last two years, a contractor hired by the City of Galveston conducted an inventory of water lines, public (system-owned) and private (customer-owned) to identify water lines containing lead. Lead material was commonly used in water lines for many years. There was only one public line identified to contain lead, and the line was replaced.

While the contractor completed nearly 17,000 inspections, the contractor was unable to access nearly 3,000 customer-side water lines during the inventory because of the placement of those lines. As a result, those property lines have been marked as containing unknown materials and the period to inspect these difficult to reach lines has been extended.

The property owners will soon receive notices with additional information and education about the process. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has extended the deadline to October 2027 for inspection of these lines.

The rule, which requires cities to publish the water line inventory online, went into effect October 16 and the city has published the inventory. Residents may also look on the website at www.galvestontx.gov/leadrule and see if their property is included in this group by following the link to the service line inventory map.