City Statement on Lead Service Lines
City Utilities continues to meet the high standards for the water delivered daily to our homes and businesses. Water produced and distributed from our Three Rivers Water Filtration Plant always meets or is better than state and federal requirements.
As we've shared before, lead service lines, lead solder and lead plumbing fixtures that are inside some homes can cause lead levels to increase above recommended standards.
Part of our effort to serve the community includes collecting water samples from homes and businesses and testing them for lead levels. In a recent sampling of 84 homes, nine were found to have a level higher than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation. The isolated cases of the nine homes are structures built before 1986.
The owners of the homes with elevated lead results have already received notification. Additionally, educational material from City Utilities and the Allen County Department of Health has been mailed to all Fort Wayne water utility customers this week about lead paint inside and outside homes, lead-contaminated soil and dust, and lead in drinking water. We also notified the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and EPA about the results of the tests.
Again, the isolated incidents are not related to the water produced or distributed from the Three Rivers Filtration Plant.
Additionally, City Utilities has established a lead line replacement program to further aid property owners in replacing the service lines with safer materials. Homes built before 1937 may have lead service lines. Under the plan, City Utilities hires contractors at a lower price and assists homeowners with a loan program. More than 400 Fort Wayne residents have taken advantage of this lead-line replacement program. Residents interested in learning more about having their private service line replaced should call Customer Support at 427-1234.
More information about reducing lead risks can be found on the following websites:
www.epa.gov/lead
www.epa.gov/lead/protect-your-family-exposures-lead
www.cityoffortwayne.org/utilities/drinking-water.html
www.allencountyhealth.com/get-tested/lead