The City of Bloomington Utilities has released an initial inventory of potentially harmful lead service lines in the city’s water grid. But so far, the city says, it has found few such lines among many thousands.
Following Biden-era guidelines, the city looked at 54,000 service connections over two years. Only four are made of lead. The survey also identified 100 galvanized lines: steel pipes coated in zinc that could release lead as they decompose.
Still, the status of around 11,000 service lines remains unknown. Director of utilities Katherine Zaiger said work on the inventory continues. The city uses computer models to determine the likelihood of lead pipes in an area.
“When we do the actual in-field verifications of these unknowns, it kind of helps guide us,” Zaiger said. “What should be our priority? Where should we start first? And that'll be the ones that are more likely lead.”
CBU customers with lead lines will be notified by mail.
Over the next decade, the city will replace any lead or galvanized lines between the water main and the meter. Anything between the meter and the property is the owner’s responsibility.
The EPA estimates that over 263,000 service lines contain lead in Indiana.
