Lead and Copper and Your Water Service Lines



Update as of November 1, 2024



How can you help?

McCall Water Department requests your help in completing this important survey to document the material of your water service line from the water meter to just outside of your house or business. The city is asking for this information to determine if there is any lead on the private side of the service line and for the completion of a service line inventory map. The survey link has been disabled to allow staff to compile all the results for our initial DEQ submittal.

Why Participate?

Lead exposure poses serious health risks, especially to children and vulnerable populations. Even low levels of lead in drinking water can lead to developmental delays, learning difficulties, and other health issues. By participating in this survey, residents contribute directly to efforts aimed at identifying and addressing potential lead sources in our community's water supply.

What Happens Next?

Homes that do not complete the survey by the deadline will undergo an onsite discovery visit by the water department. This visit aims to gather necessary information to complete the service line inventory map, ensuring comprehensive data collection for effective water management and safety.

Find out how to check your pipes here

What's happening now?

On August 4, 2022, EPA released Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory to support water systems with their efforts to develop inventories and to provide states with needed information for oversight and reporting to EPA. The guidance provides essential information to help water systems comply with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions requirement to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials by October 16, 2024. Specifically, EPA’s Lead Service Line Inventory guidance:

  • Provides best practices for inventory development and communicating information to the public.
  • Includes a template for water systems, states, and Tribes to use or adapt to create their own inventory.
  • Contains case studies on developing, reviewing, and communicating about inventories.
  • Highlights the importance of prioritizing inventory development in disadvantaged communities and where children live and play.

EPA is harmonizing regulatory requirements with unprecedented funding through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make rapid progress on removing harmful lead from America’s drinking water.   


Revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule

EPA’s new Lead and Copper Rule better protects children and communities from the risks of lead exposure by better protecting children at schools and child care facilities, getting the lead out of our nation’s drinking water, and empowering communities through information. Improvements under the new rule include:

  • Using science-based testing protocols to find more sources of lead in drinking water.
  • Establishing a trigger level to jump-start mitigation earlier and in more communities.
  • Driving more and complete lead service line replacements.
  • For the first time, requiring testing in schools and childcare facilities.
  • Requiring water systems to identify and make public the locations of lead service lines

 For more information visit the Federal Register visit https://www.regulations.gov:  Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2017-0300.  

For more information visit the EPA website.

Click here to view the City of McCall Lead and Copper Inventory as if 10.16.2024

City of McCall Contacts:

City Engineer

Morgan Stroud

Work: 208-634-3458

mstroud@mccall.id.us


Water Systems Manager

Sabrina  Sims 

Work: 208-634-7802

ssims@mccall.id.us

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Lead and Copper Frequently Asked Questions
Who is required to submit service line inventories?

All Community and Non-Transient Non-Community Water Systems are required to submit a lead service line inventory under the Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) per 40 CFR 141.84. LCRR requires water systems to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials.

When is the service line inventory due?

Please complete your survey by September 30th, 2024. Primary agencies must submit initial inventories to the state by October 16th, 2024.

What is the City of McCall doing to comply with the LCRR?

Staff is working through building records and plans that constructed our water infrastructure. Some areas of town do not have good records of the construction that occurred which will require additional effort from staff and the community to fill in the blanks.

How Does the City know what my service line type is?

Staff is working through building records and plans that constructed our water infrastructure. Some areas of town do not have good records of the construction that occurred which will require additional effort from staff and the community to fill in the blanks. 

 

Some customers will see a survey come out to help us identify what your service line type is.  

 

If the City still has missing information in our inventory, the City may elect to contract with a vac-truck company to pothole areas to identify service line types.

Tell me about this survey.

The survey is being finalized currently. We are working with our partners at 120 Water to create a digital survey that inputs will directly be included in our inventory. The survey is expected to be live April, 2024.

 

The survey will ask questions that will help identify your service line type. If we have missing information, the City will work with 120 Water on sending physical post cards to the applicable homes.

What are the types of service lines?

Each service line must be classified using one of the four options listed below. Material classifications are required for both the system- and customer-side where ownership is split.

 

Lead: A portion of the pipe that is made of lead, which connects the water main to the building inlet.

Galvanized Requiring Replacement (GRR): A galvanized service line that is or ever was downstream of an LSL or is currently downstream of an unknown service line.

Non-Lead: The service line is determined not to be lead or GRR through an evidence-based record, method, or technique.

Unknown: The service line material is not known to be a lead, GRR, or non-lead, such as where there is no documented evidence supporting material classification. It is recommended that you track additional information in your inventory, such as pipe diameter and installation date, source of material information, actual material of nonlead lines, and other lead sources (e.g., lead goosenecks and solder).

Will the Public be able to see this inventory?

Yes! The inventory will be available to the public after it is submitted to the state. The exact format of how that will occur for the City of McCall has not been finalized in this point in time.

What happens if I don't complete the survey?

Homes that do not complete the survey by the deadline will undergo an onsite discovery visit by the water department. This visit aims to gather necessary information to complete the service line inventory map, ensuring comprehensive data collection for effective water management and safety.

Why should I participate?

Lead exposure poses serious health risks, especially to children and vulnerable populations. Even low levels of lead in drinking water can lead to developmental delays, learning difficulties, and other health issues. By participating in this survey, residents contribute directly to efforts aimed at identifying and addressing potential lead sources in our community's water supply.