This month on “Wonderful Water,” join 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey for a conversation with OWASA Deputy Executive Director Monica Dodson about OWASA’s compliance with a 2021 rule requiring an inventory of all of the utility’s drinking water service lines.
OWASA’s water system is comprised of roughly 400 miles of pipes across over 23,000 properties, from main water lines to connections to homes and everything in between. OWASA owns and maintains those lines “from main to meter,” but property owners are responsible for maintenance from there.
“We used historical records and our outstanding crews inventoried over 6,000 properties across our community, then used statistical modeling to identify the remaining service lines to 99 percent accuracy,” said Dodson. “We knew that the main lines and service lines OWASA owns are not lead. The EPA’s revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule required that we also know the material of the service line that is privately owned by the property owner. … While we didn’t find any lead, we found 108 private side service lines that are made of galvanized material that needs to be replaced.”
Those galvanized lines in need of replacement can collected lead particles, and after OWASA’s analysis, customers whose lines are in question will be notified. Information on OWASA’s service line inventory and full update to Lead and Copper pages are both available here.
You can listen to the full conversation below, and visit the Wonderful Water page here for more interviews and stories about the work OWASA does in our community.
Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents use roughly 7 million gallons of water a day, and “Wonderful Water” is a monthly conversation sponsored by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority highlighting its work to keep our community growing and water flowing.
Presented by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority.
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