Community members will be asked to take photographs of their lines and submit them to the city. The city wants to complete an inventory of its water service lines by October to send to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The city’s service line compliance program was created in response to proposed regulatory changes to a federal Lead and Copper Rule that may require public water systems to identify and replace every lead line in their communities.
This could include water lines that connect to people’s homes, which normally are the responsibility of private property owners.
Other water systems around the country have launched similar inventory programs and they usually see community participation rates of about 5% to 10%, said Keshia Kinney, Dayton’s water supply and treatment manager.
The city will use the information it collects to create a predictive model for the service line inventory.
The city also will use plumbing records and historical records and information from earlier modeling work.
Kinney said the city does not have a lead or copper issue in its water system because the city adds a protective coating inside its pipes that separates the pipe materials from the water.
The city says all city residents will receive notification about the “Know Your Pipes Program” through fliers included in water bills, social media posts, billboards and other outreach efforts.
The city expects only 5% to 10% of residents will respond but it is asking for everyone to participate.
City staff also will conduct service line field investigations.
This program applies to water service connections on private property, and not the publicly owned and operated water infrastructure.
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