Archive for month: November, 2024

EPA/Iowa DNR: Lead Service Line Inventory Letters

 

The City of Ida Grove sent letters out last week to inform some of our residents about the service line material at their home. This letter was not a reflection on the Ida Grove water quality but is an effort to inform the public that the water service line that runs from the public water main to their home may have at one time contained lead. Lead water lines were used in older houses but many of those lines have been replaced.

In an effort to update water service line infrastructure throughout the country, the DNR and EPA are requiring communities to conduct a review of their current records. Our service records are based on notes from previous operators over many decades and may no longer be accurate. If homeowners have updated water line material to their home, please let us know by contacting City Hall at (712)364-2428 or email Luke at [email protected]. We are required to submit and maintain a current record on the state’s portal system. We must also notify any homeowners if we are not certain that the waterline feeding their house is or ever was lead or downstream of plumbing containing lead.

The letters that were sent out last week were to update the residents of our findings.  Over the next 3 years the city will be updating records by contacting residents and performing onsite confirmation of the service line material. In some cases, the service line will have to be exposed through excavation at the property. If the line is confirmed to be made of lead, then the line will be replaced.