"Determining what material every customer’s service line is made of – including the lines owned by them and not just by us – is a massive undertaking, and we’re asking our customers to take this request seriously and please respond so we can take action accordingly.

Although our company is in compliance with lead action levels in water due to our treatment controls, we believe that identifying and ultimately removing lead lines from service is the right thing to do for the health, safety and peace of mind of our customers."

- Justin Ladner
President
Pennsylvania American Water

YOUR INPUT ON THIS SURVEY WILL TAKE ABOUT 10 MINUTES AND WILL HELP PENNSYLVANIA AMERICAN WATER IDENTIFY AND ULTIMATELY REMOVE LEAD SERVICE LINES FROM THE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE. 

You will be asked to: 

• Enter your contact information
• Identify your service line
• and upload a picture

 

If you need further assistance, please indicate that in the following steps and a representative will contact you. 

 

WHAT IS A WATER SERVICE LINE?

A water service line is a pipe that connects your house or building to the water main in the street. Typically, the service line is less than 2 inches in diameter and is made of various material. The most common material in use is copper; however other materials have been used including galvanized steel, plastic, and lead.

Pennsylvania American Water owns a portion of the service line, typically from the main to the curb stop, found near the street curb or sidewalk. The property owner owns the rest of the service line, from the curb stop all the way into the house or building.

 

HOW IS THE SERVICE LINE MATERIAL DATA BEING GATHERED?

Our service line inventory project contractor, Greeley & Hansen, will be available by phone to answer questions about the inventory and identification process and can help you schedule an in-home inspection to verify your service line material type, if needed. In addition to this customer survey, the project includes reviewing existing records, predictive modeling, and conducting field investigations, which can include in-home inspections and digging test pits to look at service lines.

All contractors representing Pennsylvania American Water in the field will be wearing logoed, high-visibility vests and carrying official photo ID badges. If we contact you asking for information about your service line, we urge you to participate in this important project. We also encourage you to check for proper identification before allowing anyone self-identifying as a utility representative into your home.

WHY IS PENNSYLVANIA AMERICAN WATER UNDERTAKING THIS PROJECT?

The project is driven by EPA regulations that require water utilities to identify and publicly map lead service lines, which, for many utilities, will be the first step toward a proactive lead service line replacement program. Pennsylvania American Water already has a robust lead service line replacement program and has replaced more than 250 lead service lines to date. We plan to invest approximately $15 million in 2023 to replace lead service lines, and our efforts will continue into future years.

We requested approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for a customer-side lead service line replacement program, citing that systematically replacing customer-owned lead service lines is a reasonable, cost-effective way to help avoid customer health and safety concerns associated with lead service lines.

TO DETERMINE THE MATERIAL OF YOUR WATER SERVICE LINE YOU WILL NEED TO:

• Locate the service line pipe as it enters your home from an exterior wall or floor (can be in a crawl space or basement).
• Lightly scratch the pipe with a coin (like a lottery ticket) and check with a magnet.