Jamestown Board of Public Utilities’ water division officials are asking customers to help with a “Check Your Pipes” initiative by identifying materials of the water service lines coming into their homes or businesses.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has set an October 2024 deadline requiring all water utilities to complete an inventory of water service line materials in their territories. The BPU water system must compile an inventory of 16,000 water line materials by that date.
The BPU provides an online video at bit.ly/checkpipes showing how to identify the incoming water line and its material. The video explains how to find and identify the pipe, take the picture needed for the inventory, complete a short survey and submit the picture online.
As the video indicates, the first step in identifying the pipe material is to locate the water meter, usually found in a basement, garage or crawl space. Once the meter is located, the customer can identify the material of the water pipe coming through the foundation or floor leading up to the water meter. Next, this information can be submitted online to the utility, along with a photograph or by visiting jamestownbpu.com/395/Check-Your-Pipes
Water lines entering buildings are made of copper, iron, lead or plastic.
If a customer scratches a pipe with a penny and the scraped area is copper in color, like the penny, the service line is copper. Also, a magnet will not stick to copper.
A galvanized iron pipe is dull and silver-gray in color. A magnet sticks to an iron service line.
A lead pipe also is dull and silver-gray and is easily scratched with a coin. A magnet will not stick to lead.
Plastic is easy to identify. A magnet will not stick to plastic and scratching plastic with a penny will not identify the pipe. Plastic pipes normally are labeled and are blue or white in color.
Once the information is submitted, the BPU will review the online form and picture.
If the BPU cannot verify the water line material through the survey, the utility will reach out to the customer and may schedule an appointment to verify the water service line material at the convenience of the customer.
In addition, a group of BPU employees have begun knocking on doors to ask for entrance to identify the water lines. These employees carry BPU identification and drive BPU-designated vehicles. They also will bring door tags including a phone number with which to make an appointment if a customer feels uncomfortable admitting an employee without advance notice. Tags are left on doors where customers are not at home.
For questions or an appointment, contact the BPU Water Department at 716-661-1613.