Dear Minot:
With fall in full swing, the construction season in North Dakota is winding down. While there are a few projects in Minot finishing up, the vast majority of road repairs and other projects have been completed.
But there is one important project that will continue throughout 2024, and we could use some help from Minot residents to make sure it gets finished as completely as possible.
Senior Project Manager Veronica Meyer in our Public Works Department is spearheading the City’s efforts to collect as much data as possible regarding residential and commercial water service lines. Specifically, Meyer is trying to determine how many lead water lines we have in the city.
First, some background.
The federal Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act went into effect in 2014, and has reduced the amount of lead content in water systems and plumbing products by changing the definition of lead-free in the Safe Drinking Water Act from not more than 8 percent lead content to not more than a weighted average of 0.25 percent lead with respect to the wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and plumbing fixtures. The SDWA prohibits the use of these products in the installation or repair of any public water system or facility providing water for human consumption if they do not meet the lead-free requirement.
Then the federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions took effect in December 2021, and triggered the need for communities to take inventory of water service lines. To help take inventory, the EPA created an interactive mapping system for cities across the country to document the type of water service lines in use. The map includes different colored categories for lead, assumed lead, galvanized requiring replacement, non-lead, and unknown.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of grey on Minot’s map, though, meaning there’s a high number of properties where we don’t know what type of water line was installed. That’s what Meyer is trying to change, and the residents of our community can be a major source of information. Minot’s map and a link to a lead service line survey is available at https://geohub-minotnd.hub.arcgis.com/pages/division-water.
Generally, anything built after 1986 should not contain lead water lines. But we need to know for sure, and it’s virtually impossible for our crews to seek permission and be admitted into every home and business in Minot in the next year. We’re asking for a few minutes of your time to help us discover what type of water line is in your home or business.
The process is quick and easy. First, locate the water line entering the structure; typically, these are found in the basement, and have a valve and water meter installed on the pipe after the point of entry. Then, conduct one of these simple tests:
-Scratch test. Carefully scratch the surface of the pipe with a flathead screwdriver. Each type of pipe will produce a different scratch. If the scraped area is shiny and silver, the pipe is lead. If the scraped area looks like the color of a penny, the pipe is copper. If the scratched area remains a dull gray color, the pipe is galvanized steel.
-Magnet test. A magnet will stick to a galvanized steel pipe, but will not stick to copper or lead pipes.
-Tapping test. Tapping a lead pipe with a coin produces a dull noise. Tapping a copper pipe or a galvanized steel pipe with a coin produces a metallic ringing noise.
Finally, snap a photo of your water line, and then go to Water Service Line Material Survey (arcgis.com) to complete the quick survey and upload the photo.
That’s it.
It’s important that we identify as many lead and non-lead lines as possible by the end of 2024. Any lines of unknown material must be considered lead lines, and that requires the City to do more sampling and testing. And if we have to hire additional crews to help with testing, that obviously impacts the City budget.
Ultimately, the goal is to identify and replace as many lead lines as possible in our community. Meyer said the City is researching the potential for loan forgiveness through the state of North Dakota for replacement of lead lines.
Lead can be dangerous if found in high enough levels in drinking water, and it can enter drinking water a number of different ways. The Environmental Protection Agency has a lot of information regarding the health concerns associated with lead that can be found at https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic-information-about-lead-drinking-water.
I urge you to take a few minutes to help us find out how many lead lines we have in Minot. That way, we know what we’re up against moving forward.
You can find more about what’s happening at the City of Minot at minotnd.org, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. We’d also encourage you to sign up for our monthly electronic newsletter on our website.