City of Waco checking 50K water meters for lead pipes

A city of Waco water employee checks a residential water meter in this 2016 photo. City crews this year have begun assessing service lines around water meters to identify any lead pipes.
Jerry Larson, Tribune-Herald file photo

Water Utility Director Lisa Tyer will present the initiative to the Waco City Council on Tuesday, as the department makes stops at each meter to take inventory and comply with standards from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule, first implemented in 1991, aims to limit concentration of lead and copper that enters drinking water, generally through corrosion of water pipes. The use of lead pipes for installation or maintenance of public and private water systems was banned in 1986.

“Lead and water is definitely a danger … especially for young children,” water utility spokesperson Jessica Emmett Sellers said. “As their brains develop it can really hinder that brain development, so it’s a much lower risk for adults.”

A recent revision to the EPA rule requires water providers to take inventory of all service line materials by Oct. 16, 2024. Service lines are the pipes that connect a property to the city water main.

Sellers said with water infrastructure being underground, it usually stays in place unless it is broken. The city does have aging pipes, but workers replace substandard components they find during routine maintenance.

"Anytime we find one, you know, if they go and they work on something that hasn’t been worked on in a long time, that’s the original pipe … let’s go ahead and get that out of here."

She said there are no known lead service lines in the system.

Sellers said water utility workers will be making their way through some 50,000 water meters over the next year and a half to assess the city-owned pipes leading to the water meter and the customer-owned service lines connecting to the user. 

City water utility employees will visit each customer’s water meter, which is typically near the street under a plastic cover, and clean it out, she said. They will take a picture to document the pipes and upload it to an app developed by the city’s information technology department, creating an inventory of all the city’s water pipes in line with the new EPA mandate, she said.

The app will remain private to the city until the database is complete and will be released to the public on the October 2024 due date.

“People will be able to see what kind of service lines their property has, or potentially if you’re buying property, renting property, you can see kind of what you’re getting into,” she said.

City employees, rather than subcontractors, will be out in city-branded clothes and trucks will be out doing the work, Sellers said. She said not to fret if residents see someone checking their meter throughout the process, as the workers are likely not shutting the water off.

All licensed day cares and schools up to eighth grade will also be required to test their water for lead and copper by the October 2024 due date under the EPA’s revised rule.

If a meter is found to have lead pipes on either the city or customer’s side, the customer will be contacted face to face. A worker will provide them with a filter pitcher for drinking water and information on the dangers of lead pipes, advising them on how to stay safe and how to replace lead pipes.

The city will pay for the replacement of pipes that connect to the main line, and if a resident’s water must be shut off for a line replacement they will receive additional guidance, she said.

Lead lines on the customer’s side will be the customer's responsibility to replace, but the Housing and Community Development Department’s Lead is Preventable Program has income-based assistance available for replacement costs. Residents and property owners will be provided with contact information, estimates and options for replacement during their in-person interactions with city staff, Sellers said.

“If you wanted to replace all the plumbing in your house that’s a pretty big job so … there’s a little bit of assistance out there available at this time,” she said.

The city’s hunt for lead pipes began in March, and Sellers estimates about a quarter of all residences have already been checked. Of some 12,000 water meters that have been checked, only six were found to have lead pipes, she said.

“There’s older areas of the city and newer areas of the city so there’s going to be certain potential hot spots … we’re hoping that there’s not a lot, but the potential is there,” Sellers said.

In other business Tuesday, the council will: 

• Hear a presentation about alley trash bin enclosures and proposed solid waste improvements along Mary Avenue in line with the city's Downtown Implementation Plan
• Hold a public hearing on the proposed multifamily zoning for an apartment complex near the intersection of U.S. Highway 84 and Old Lorena Road
• Consider spending $1 million for about 19 acres of land at 4409 and 4419 S. 12th St; the city's plans for the plot are not yet clear
• Consider giving landscape architectural firm Design Workshop a $3 million contract to plan and design a park at the Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex neighboring the former Floyd Casey Stadium site, which is being redeveloped
• Consider giving Union Pacific some $1.2 million for needed improvements at the Second, Third, Sixth and Eighth street railroad crossings to create a quiet zone from Peach Street to 13th Street.