Lead and
Drinking Water
Continuing to Protect Your Health and Safety in Chattanooga
For [XX] years, it has been the duty of the people of Eastside Utility to protect the health of our community by meeting the evolving standards on water quality to provide you with the cleanest, safest drinking water possible.
Lead is a contaminant that can cause serious health problems if too much enters your body from drinking water or other sources. Lead was historically used to construct water service lines and home plumbing across the country. Homes built before 1986 are more likely to have lead service lines or interior plumbing and fixtures, and lead service lines are most common in homes built before the 1950s.
The water that leaves our water treatment plant and travels through water mains to homes or businesses does not contain lead. However, as water sits in lead service lines or connections, or in plumbing systems inside of homes and businesses, small amounts of lead from lead pipes or lead solder used to join copper pipes can dissolve into the water.
This Lead and Drinking Water Section is to inform you about the new lead regulations Eastside Utility will meet over the coming years; how we will work to find and fix the lead lines and connections that may exist in our system; how you can reduce lead exposure in your own homes and businesses; and the data from our Lead and Copper Rule testing program.
[[Due to our use of corrosion control, which uses a food additive to provide a protective coating for the water lines, connections, and home or business plumbing systems, Eastside Utility has been in full compliance with the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule throughout our history.]]
Any Questions?
After reading about our work, if you have questions or concerns you can contact Eastside Utility Customer Service at [email@email.com] and [123.456.7890].
01. The Revised Lead and Copper Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), first established in 1991, recently underwent its most extensive revision in 30 years to better protect children and communities from the risks of lead exposure by better protecting children at schools and childcare facilities, getting the lead out of our nation’s drinking water, and empowering communities through information.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), first established in 1991, recently underwent its most extensive revision in 30 years to better protect children and communities from the risks of lead exposure by better protecting children at schools and childcare facilities, getting the lead out of our nation’s drinking water, and empowering communities through information.
Improvements under the new rule, which have an effective date of October 2024, include:
Using science-based testing protocols to identify more lead sources in drinking water
Establishing a trigger level to jumpstart mitigation earlier and in more communities
Mandating more and complete lead service line replacement
For the first time, requiring testing in schools and childcare facilities
Requiring water systems to identify and make public the locations of lead service lines
As Eastside Utility develops our compliance plans for the new LCR, we want you to know we have been proactive about lead and copper in several ways. We are also starting their lead service line identification process, which will take the most time to complete. See Lead Service Lines and Connections section below.
[[UTILITY STATES ANY RECENT LCR-RELATED ACTIONS HERE. One example… Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, cons ectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.]
Eastside Utility recently conducted detailed corrosion-control studies of all treatment plants and implemented slight changes in the chemical used to inhibit corrosion. These changes have been found to be extremely effective.
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Additional Resources
Find out more information about the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule
Specific information about the EPA’s new Lead and Copper Rule, to be fully implemented in October 2024
Information from [[STATE AGENCY]] about Lead in Drinking Water
02. Lead Service Lines and Connections
You can also work with Eastside Utility to replace the lines or connections within the home or business, improving the value of your property.
A service line is the underground pipe that carries water from Eastside Utility’s water main to a home or business. Each service line requires connections to the water main and to the water lines and plumbing on a customer’s property.
Each service line and connection may consist of multiple plumbing material types including, but not limited to, lead, copper, galvanized iron, and plastic.
The EPA estimates that between 6 to 10 million of our nation’s service lines, are made of lead, not to mention lead connections from a home or business to a utility’s water main.
As part of the new Lead and Copper Rule, all water utilities across the country must create inventories of their water service lines and connections to find any lead service line or connection that may exist in a water system. These inventories must also include the customers’ side of the water meter.
The lead service line inventory process will require Eastside Utility to determine if the service lines and connections it uses to take water from its mains to the customer water meters is made of lead. These lines and connections are Eastside Utility‘s responsibility to address if lead is found.
Eastside Utility will conduct the inventory work using the following methods: an assessment of construction dates; a review of existing Eastside Utility data; water sampling; excavation; and predictive modeling.
If we find a lead line or connection on Eastside Utility side of the system, we will ((UTILITY POLICY HERE.)))
The lead service line inventory process must also involve a new requirement under the Lead and Copper Rule. Water providers like Eastside Utilitymust determine if the water service lines or connections on or within private properties contain lead.
We need your help.
To complete this part of the inventory, Eastside Utility needs the help of our customers to identify the lines or connections on their properties. We are asking Eastside Utility customers to check their water service lines and tell us if they find lead services or connections.
***Here is a step-by-step guide to inspect their home or business for a lead service line. ****
A certified plumber is recommended because they can help customers identify a lead service line, check for lead solder in internal pipes, and look for fixtures containing lead. Private lines or connections are the responsibility of the home or business customer, and we understand that some of our customers may not wish to look for lead on their properties.
The benefits of identifying lead service lines or connections in your home or business are many. You will be able to find out if you have lead within your home or business and take action to reduce your lead exposure, protecting your health.
[[MORE UTILITY-SPECIFIC ACTION/POLICY DETAIL HERE]]
03. Preventing Lead Exposure
To reduce your potential exposure to lead in your homes and businesses, Eastside Utility has a Corrosion Control Program in place across our water system.
This program uses [Addative] to inhibit corrosion in all piping from the water treatment plant to customers’ faucets, including older lines and internal plumbing fixtures that may contain lead or lead solder. [Addative] is a common, FDA-approved additive that coats the pipes and internal plumbing fixtures and significantly inhibits lead and copper from dissolving into tap water
As Eastside Utility properly uses corrosion control and conducts our work under the Lead and Copper Rule to continue to keep your drinking water safe and clean, we want to advise you of the several steps you can take to reduce your potential exposure to lead in drinking water.
Run your water to flush out lead.
Anytime water sits idle in a pipe for six or more hours, flush the “old water” out of the plumbing by running the water for at least three minutes. Let the water run until it is as cold as it gets before using it for cooking or drinking.
To avoid wasting water, flush out the “old water” by taking a shower, flushing the toilet, washing a load of clothes, etc. In the morning, wait to make coffee, juice, hot cereal or baby formula until family members are out of the bathroom.
Remove and clean faucet aerators every three months
Over time, particles and sediment can collect in the aerator screen. To clean aerators, cover the drain in your sink to prevent any aerator parts from falling into the drain, then unscrew the aerator and separate each part.
Remove any small particles on the screen, soak the parts in white vinegar for a few minutes and scrub the parts with a brush. After cleaning, put the aerator parts back together and screw the aerator back onto the faucet.
Replace aerators annually and clean them four times a year. If an aerator appears to need more frequent cleaning or becomes worn, the aerator may need to be replaced more often. Aerators are available at local hardware stores.
If your home or business was built prior to the lead ban in 1986
The only way to know with certainty if you have lead at the tap is to have your water tested by a certified laboratory. If you are concerned that your family is at risk, contact Eastside Utility for assistance. We cannot to the accuracy of home tests offered by third parties.
If you find that you have lead in your water, filter tap water until all sources of lead are removed, or look for alternative sources of water.
Not all home treatment devices can remove lead in water. When purchasing a water treatment device, make sure it is certified under NSF/ANSI 53 to remove lead. Search for certified products at NSF International or Water Quality Association.
Use cold, filtered tap water for drinking, cooking, preparing infant formula, beverages and ice, and be sure to routinely replace filter cartridges according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
04. Lead and Copper Rule Program Testing Data
The EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) requires monitoring at consumer taps to identify levels of lead in drinking water that may be a result of corrosion of lead-bearing components in a public water system’s distribution system or household plumbing.
Eastside Utility is required to identify and sample water from high-risk homes, those that include one or more of the following:
House contains copper pipes with lead solder installed after 1982 and before the ban of lead solder in potable water systems in 1986
House contains lead pipes
House has a lead service line
Residential Lead Testing for Compliance Results for Years:
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Eastside Utility also publishes water quality reports, also known Consumer Confidence Reports, each year as a requirement under the Safe Drinking Water Act. These reports provide information about where your water comes from, how it is treated, tests that are performed, information on fluoride and quality evaluation.
[[UTILITY CCR links here]]
Any Questions?
After reading about our work, if you have questions or concerns you can contact Eastside Utility Customer Service at [email@email.com] and [123.456.7890].