Developing Service Line Inventories: Guidance for Utilities With Limited Lead Lines

Key Takeaways In the United States, all community and nontransient noncommunity water systems are required to submit an inventory describing the location and makeup of all service lines in their service areas. While the material can be designated as lead, galvanized requiring replacement, nonlead, or unknown, the last two designations require additional steps to be taken in the proposed Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). Some utilities have few or no lead service lines, and this inventory requirement, issued by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), may be burdensome to those utilities. This article demonstrates the methodology in EPA's proposed LCRI for verification of construction material, and an alternate validation procedure is proposed.