Chris Medlin, Director of Public Works for the city of Clinton, addresses City Council Tuesday night.
Because of a federal government requirement, the City of Clinton, along with all municipalities across the country, are required to test water lines connected to residential homes and other buildings for lead.
The legislation requiring the new testing is an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule published September 1, 2020, to comply with the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act, along with a Dec. 2023 rule, Lead and Copper Rule Improvements.
“Most water testing and rules only concern the pipes owned by the City which stops at the back of the meterbox.” explained Chris Medlin, Clinton’s director of public works. “However, with this new legislation we must determine materials used on the customer side as well. So, it is possible that the City service line could be lead-free, but the private side (citizen owned) material could contain lead.”
City residents should expect a letter from the city sometime within the next 30 days, after Oct.16, once the city submits an inventory of all their service line material to the federal govermnet.
Testing will be conducted on the water lines that run from the main lines to the meters, and from the meters into the homes.
Normally, local Public Works do not intrude on the plumbing of a home from the meter into the residence, but Covid relief funds previously distributed require that testing of water pipes in the homes be included as part of the process in order for the city to receive federal money.
“It’s going to be a long-drawn out process,” Medlin told members of Clinton City Council during a meeting Tuesday night about lead and copper improvement guidelines set forth by the EPA.
Any residential structure built from 1987 onward is not required to have testing, but all residents will receive the flyer; some 4,000 in total.
Any lead piping found connected to a home will have to be replaced.
Medlin said that 99 percent of the time, the homeowner is responsible for the plumbing from the house to the road, but this time, if a pipe is found to be made of lead, the cost to replace the water line will not be the owner’s responsibility. Based on past testing, the city hasn’t had a problem but this will determine if anything has changed.
“This is a federal law that has come down, nationwide. Every municipality has to do a report regarding the amount of lead (in water lines). It not only includes our infrastructure, but the water lines on the other side of the meters,” noted Clinton City Manager James Duncan.
Duncan said he is not aware of any other time a city has been required to check piping in the personal property of a home. He said that the concern wasn’t about testing but rather the fact that the city be required to insert themselves into a private home and check the plumbing.
“This is only an issue for older homes,” noted Duncan.
North Carolina law states that utility companies must notify customers by Nov. 14 if lead is found in the service lines.
The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1986 banned the use of lead in public water systems and home plumbing all across the country. Every state had to enforce the ban by June 1988.
Residents can find more information by visiting www.epa.gov.