What's Your Pipe Type? Overview

Who should verify their pipe type?

WSSC Water customers with water service line material believed to be lead, Galvanized Requiring Replacement (GRR) or unknown were mailed a letter containing detailed information about how to verify their water service line material and important next steps.

All WSSC Water customers are welcome to type their address into our user-friendly inventory map to view their water service line material.

What is a Water Service Line?

A water service line is the pipe that carries water from our water main to your home. A portion of the water service line is utility owned while the other portion is customer owned.

How is WSSC Water complying with the EPA’s enhanced Lead and Copper Rule?

WSSC Water has extensively reviewed plumbing records dating back more than 100 years and created an inventory of the materials used for utility- and customer-owned water service lines. WSSC Water banned the use of lead as a water service line construction material in 1954. The likelihood of finding a lead service line is low.

Over 96% of customer-owned water service lines
in the WSSC Water service area are NOT lead.

What does WSSC Water do to prevent lead from entering my drinking water?

WSSC Water carefully filters and expertly treats all drinking water to ensure safety and quality. Water leaving our filtration plants is free of lead. To minimize the risk of lead dissolving into the water from plumbing materials, we add a corrosion inhibitor, orthophosphate, to the water supply to create a protective coating on the inside of pipes (including those on the customer’s property).

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