Baltimore City, County residents asked to check their water pipes for lead and copper inventory

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City and County residents are urged to check their water pipes for a local government partnership building an inventory of lead and copper pipes in the area. 

The Baltimore Service Line Partnership, a collaboration between the Baltimore City Department of Public Works and the Baltimore County Department of Public Works and Transportation, was formed to comply with a 2021 EPA rule requiring utilities across the country to inventory and address any locations with high lead levels.

Most U.S. Cities would have to replace their lead water pipes within 10 years under a newly announced proposal by the EPA called the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements. 

Residents are asked to self-report their water service line material because part of the water service lines connecting residential properties in Baltimore's water system is privately owned by the property owner, the partnership said. 

The deadline for the partnership to submit the initial inventory to the EPA is October 2024. The results will be posted publicly.

To self-report, residents first need to find out if their address has been identified as having an unknown service line here. If a resident has an unknown service line, they will be asked to take the online survey.

Residents will need these items to do the survey:

• Magnet (a refrigerator magnet works)
• Penny or a key
• Smartphone or digital camera
• Internet access to upload information

Maryland banned the installation of lead water service lines in 1972, but water lines made of unknown or out-of-date materials, including lead, could still be present in the water distribution system, the partnership said. The information on those lines has been limited because they were not installed by the city's or the county's utilities. 

The inventory results will be shared with the public on the partnership's website.  

Next January, the partnership will host two public meetings to walk residents through the self-reporting inventory process

January Meeting Dates:

• January 22, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. | Randallstown Community Center 3505 Resource Drive Randallstown, Md. 21133
• January 29, 2024, 6:30 p.m. | Middle Branch Fitness and Wellness Center 201 Reedbird Ave Baltimore, Md. 21225

Click here to learn more about the partnership's EPA Lead and Copper Inventory process.