ASHEBORO – The City of Asheboro, as a public water provider, has reviewed its monitoring procedures of water lines in an effort to assure compliance with the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
A report from city officials says that Asheboro has been and continues to be compliant with all federal and state rules regulating lead and copper in drinking water.
Trevor Nuttall, who’s new in the position of assistant city manager, provided a report late last week outlining the city’s commitment to safe drinking water. The federal guidelines require monitoring single-family residences served by copper plumbing with lead solder joints installed after 1986 or any sites with lead service lines.
The report says: “Upon review of records the City is not aware of any lead service lines in the service area, there may be galvanized iron service lines with lead components in neighborhoods where the water infrastructure was installed prior to 1960.”
The Environmental Protection Agency has implemented the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements requiring all utilities to complete and submit an initial inventory identifying lead or galvanized service lines requiring replacement.
As a result, the city is required to notify customers of the status of their water service unless there’s confirmation of a non-lead status.
“Many customers will soon be receiving notices from the City informing them of the unknown status of their water service line,” the city report says. “This does not mean that the service line contains lead, it just confirms that the City doesn’t have enough information to prove lead doesn’t exist.”
The report provided by Nuttall emphasizes Asheboro’s ongoing quest to stay updated on the topic.
“The City also uses industry best practices in our water treatment processes to control leaching of lead and copper from water service lines and plumbing systems …,” the report says. “While the City goes to great lengths to minimize and control lead exposure, the primary source of lead exposure in drinking water is associated with household plumbing with lead soldered copper pipes.”
While Asheboro has recognized the work in connection with the EPA mandate, other public water providers in the region also have made announcements on the topic.
TriRiver Water has conducted an analysis of what it refers to as historic water lines in Sanford and Pittsboro.
TriRiver Water issued a statement that says, in part, “While utilities may not be directly responsible for privately-owned lines potentially containing lead, we are committed to working alongside our customers to identify and address any concerns.”
Initial inventory data is being made available this month for TriRiver Water customers.
Based on TriRiver Water’s information, the inventory is an initial assessment because the EPA realizes that a full inventory for the entire water system might take several years to complete.
