Dallas homeowners concerned after letters warn water may contain lead
DALLAS — More than 200,000 Dallas homeowners received a letter over the last few weeks informing them that the water service line for their home was either made of lead, galvanized material, or an unknown material.
Laura Crowl received a letter that said her pipes were made of an unknown material and may contain lead.
"Well, the first read was: 'Where would I have lead in my pipes? And why am I getting this letter now?'" said Laura Crowl, a realtor and Dallas homeowner.
Like many Dallas homeowners, she grew concerned and called her plumber.
"Literally, the first day that they started landing in mailboxes we got a phone call from a really good longtime customer," said Jaclyn Basilone, the chief operating officer of Brooks Plumbing. "She was beside herself she was immediately freaking out, 'Am I okay?'"
Basilone has gotten a lot of calls like that lately and she's helping homeowners make sense of what it means.
"At one point in time when we were building homes way back in the day, think 1920s, 30s, 40s, 50s, water lines were frequently constructed with a material that is galvanized metal and galvanized metal has an interior coating in it that ultimately over time degrades," said Basilone.
When galvanized metal degrades it can leech lead into the water. So why did Dallas Water Utilities send out this letter now?
The Dallas Water Utilities Department said it's because of recent changes to the EPA's lead and copper rule. It requires all water utilities across the United States to take an inventory of what water service lines, private or public, are made out of.
"If we don't know the material for that service line we had to send a letter to the customers telling them that we don't know what the service line is made of, that was all that letter was intended to do," said Alfonso Morua, the superintendent for the Water Quality Division for Dallas Water Utilities.
Dallas Water Utilities officials said residents shouldn't be concerned about their water quality.
"Our water is safe to drink, the water that we produce contains no lead and this is just part of a new regulation," said Morua.
The city wants homeowners who got the letters to help them out by filling out an online survey, available by clicking here, which shares tips on how to find out or test what your service line is made of.
"I would definitely recommend if you still have original galvanized absolutely get rid of those but if you have copper if you have PEX the risk is relatively minimal," said Basilone.
"The bulk of the water lines that we're gonna see in the DFW metroplex are either gonna be copper or PEX if you have a newer home, " said Basilone. "If you're worried and you can't sleep at night and you're worried that maybe you're reading the pipe wrong just get a water quality test."
For more information about the City of Dallas' Lead and Copper Program, click here.