Lead Service Line Inventory

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released its Lead and Copper Rule Revisions to help protect our drinking water from lead exposure. Part of the Rule requires public water systems, including the City of Snohomish, to inventory all water lines and the materials they are made of. The EPA requires the process to be complete by October 16, 2024.

Is there lead in our drinking water?

Our water sources do not contain lead or copper. Ongoing testing shows that the City of Snohomish’s drinking water meets or exceeds all state and federal drinking water standards.

Lead and copper can leach into residential water from plumbing systems that contain copper or lead. Homes built or plumbed with copper pipe before the 1985 County lead solder ban may have used lead-based solder. The EPA criteria considers these pipes to be “high risk”.

What is the City Doing? 

We take water quality seriously and we’re working hard to meet Rule requirements. Our work includes creating an inventory of City and customer side water lines and the materials they are made of.

Service Line Graphic

We’re scouring our records:  historical standards, permitting, capital project records, and reviewing past maintenance work orders to help with this.  We have identified 97% of the city-owned portion of the service line as being “not lead”. Historically, water purveyors have not been responsible for the customer’s service line.   This project is unique in that we need to identify the private line materials as well. Through our record search, we’ve only identified about 50%.  If you know what your water line is made of, please let us know.  We need your help. 

The good news is our existing data shows that we’ll likely find little, or no lead service lines, either on the city or the customer side.

What can you do?

Provide verification of your service line material here.

Lead can cause serious health problems, especially for pregnant women and young children. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Environmental Protection Agency website. 

More information on the Rule can be found at: 

US EPA- Lead and Copper Rule Revision

WA Department of Health - Lead and Copper Rule