The City of Bloomington Utility is continuing its federally mandated inventory of water service lines.
It has identified four lead lines, 100 galvanized lines and about 10,500 unknowns. That’s out of 27,000 service connections in the city.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s updated Lead and Copper Rule required all water utilities to submit an initial inventory of its service lines earlier this year.
Read more: Survey of Bloomington finds few lead pipes but more work ahead
Holly McLauchlin, the communications manager for the city of Bloomington Utilities, said the next step is an inventory of its unknown lines. A replacement plan for lead lines is due to the EPA in 2027.
"We have been as a utility ever since the '80s, as we discover lead lines, we've already been replacing them," she said. "So it's already been our practice to replace them once we find them."
McLauchlin said this means replacement will be relatively simple.
A lead water line isn’t necessarily dangerous, McLauchlin said. The city keeps the water’s pH balance at a level that prevents line corrosion.
Read more: EPA wants all lead drinking water pipes removed in 10 years. Can Indiana utilities do it?
Bloomington Utility sent letters to customers whose water line is unknown, asking them to help identify its material. This is usually found in a customer’s basement or crawlspace. Customers fill out a form on the utility’s website and include a picture of the pipe.
"We've had a lot of property owners who have sent us pictures of the service line as it's coming into their basement or crawl space, which is great," she said. "Most of the time, we're able to identify, just from that photo, what material the pipe is made out of. So we can get our inventory updated."
Current EPA Guidelines require waterline replacements be complete by 2037.
