The City must inventory and categorize drinking water service line materials for all service lines within the service area, including both the City portion and the customer-side portion. In order to do this, the City may:

• Perform visual inspections of meter boxes.
• Collect customer information including pictures of where the service line enters the property.
• In many cases, the City may need to dig a small hole over the service line near the meter box, a procedure called “potholing”.  City employees may arrive prior to the potholing to mark other utility lines with spray paint before the inspection. There may be some disruption to existing landscaping. The City will endeavor to minimize disruption where possible.
• If your service line is to be inspected, you will receive a letter from the City beforehand.

A water service line is the connection from the drinking water main to the foundation of the home (or building). Each building's service line consists of two portions: the City-owned portion of the line from the drinking water main to the meter box and the homeowner portion of the line from the meter box to their home’s foundation. See the graphic below for a simplified illustration.

* Please click on image to enlarge. The image above is a simplified illustration to demonstrate the location of the water meter box and water lines for a property, the actual location of the water meter box and water lines is different for each property. The water meter box is usually found near the sidewalk in the yard or driveway.

More information on lead exposure in drinking water and the health effects of lead exposure can be found on the pages from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) below.

• Learn about health effects of lead exposure (CDC)
• Review basic information about lead in drinking water. (EPA)
• Learn steps that can be taken to reduce lead in drinking water. (EPA)
• View or download the lead in drinking water infographic. (EPA)

1. Why is the City of Davis conducting a service line inventory project?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently updated the Lead and Copper Rule requiring all public water systems to create an inventory all water service lines regardless of ownership and make it available to the public no later than the rule compliance date of October 16, 2024. The intent of this regulation is to identify any lead service lines and develop a replacement plan for them.

2. What is a water service line?

Water service lines are small pipes (typically ¾ inch to 4 inches) that carry water from the City of Davis' water mains, located in the streets, into individual homes and buildings.

3. Who owns the water service line on my property?

The City of Davis owns the service line from the main in the street to the meter box and the property owner owns the service line from the meter box to their home or building foundation. 

4. What is the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR)? 

The LCR is a regulation passed in 1991 by the EPA that sets standards for lead and copper in drinking water. In December 2021, the EPA published the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR). 

5. Why was the Lead and Copper Rule revised?

The LCR was revised to further reduce the sources of lead in public drinking water. 
 
6. How will the revised Lead and Copper Rule impact City of Davis' water customers?
 
The revised lead and copper rule aims to further improve the safety and quality of drinking water for all customers. Water systems will need to implement new measures to monitor and reduce lead and copper levels, which may result in increased costs to the City. City of Davis has not identified any lead service lines on its side of the meter, so it anticipates there will be little need to retrofit existing service lines that could impact water service to customers.

The work of identifying material composition of customer-side service lines may require City of Davis employees to work in the vicinity of your water meter box over the next few years. If City of Davis plans to perform work around your water meter box it will send you a letter notifying the approximate time frame the work will be conducted.  It may also come out before the inspection and identify other utilities with spray paint. 

7. What materials can service lines be made of?

Service lines can be made of lead, galvanized steel, plastics, brass, copper, cast iron, or ductile iron.

8. Why should I be concerned about lead in my drinking water?

Lead is a naturally occurring element found in small amounts in the earth’s crust. While it has some beneficial uses, it can be toxic to humans and animals, causing health effects. Other sources of lead can include plumbing fixtures (faucets, valves, fittings, etc.) indoor copper plumbing pipes, with lead solder. Lead paint in homes is typically the greatest risk of lead exposure for young children. Learn more about the health effects of lead exposure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

9. What has been done to remove lead from drinking water?

In 1986, Congress banned the use of lead solder containing greater than 0.2% lead, and restricted the lead content of faucets, pipe and other plumbing materials to 8.0%. In the same year, California enacted an even more restrictive lead plumbing ban. 

10. What is City of Davis doing to minimize Lead and Copper in my drinking water?

When water leaves the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency (WDCWA) water treatment plant and the City of Davis wells it does not have lead. In addition, City of Davis water mains are made of materials that do not add lead to the water. City of Davis has not identified any lead service lines owned by the City. To minimize the potential of metals leaching from home plumbing fixtures, the City of Davis adds orthophosphate to the distribution system. Corrosion control creates a protective layer on the inside of your water pipes to help prevent future corrosion of the water pipe and reduce leaching of metals into the water.

11. Which water systems are affected by the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR)? 

LCRR is applicable to most public water systems throughout the United States. There are approximately 4,000 water systems in California alone.

12. What are the new requirements of the LCRR? 
• All water systems are required to conduct a material inventory of the service lines owned by the City and the customer to identify all service lines material.
• Submit a report of the status of the service line inventory by October 16, 2024.
• Post the service line material inventory on a website available to the general public by October 16, 2024. 
• Notify any customer served by a Lead service line, Galvanized Requiring Replacement, or if their service line is “Lead Status Unknown” by November 15, 2024.  A “Lead Status Unknown” service line is a line that has not yet been surveyed by the City of Davis and its material composition is not yet known.  A “galvanized requiring replacement” service line is any galvanized service line that was ever downstream of a lead service line. City of Davis has conducted a records review and investigation into historical service line material used by the City and has not found any instance of installation of lead service lines and such all existing customer galvanized service lines will not require replacement. 
• Periodic sampling of drinking water within schools and childcare facilities built before 2010 starting in 2025. The City of Davis has already tested all public K-12 schools in its service area and results can be found at: Lead Sampling in Schools. 
• Accelerated replacement of City lead service lines if any are found.

13. What is the action level for lead under the LCRR? 

The Action Level for lead under the LCRR remains 15 parts per billion (ppb). If a water system exceeds this level in more than 10% of customer taps sampled, the system must take action to reduce lead levels. The LCCR proposes to add a lead Trigger Level of 10 ppb.  The trigger level is not a health-based standard. EPA proposed 10 ppb as a reasonable concentration that is below the Action Level and above the Practical Quantitation Level (the minimum concentration a substance can be measured with a high degree of confidence) of 5 ppb at which to require water systems to take a progressive set of actions to reduce lead level prior to an action level exceedance and to have a plan in place to rapidly respond if there is an level exceedance.

14. What is the Action Level for copper under the LCRR? 

The action level for copper under the LCRR remains 1,300 parts per billion (ppb). If a water system exceeds this level in more than 10% of customer taps sampled, the system must take action to reduce copper levels.

15. How do I know if I have a lead or galvanized steel service line that needs replacement?

The City of Davis has prepared a service line inventory available here Water Service Line Inventory. If City of Davis does find a lead service line, the City will notify the customer by letter within 30 days of the identification and provide possible options for replacement. City of Davis will replace any lead service line owned by the City. The customer will be encouraged to replace any line owned by them but will not be required to.  Learn more about the health effects of lead exposure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

16. Will City of Davis inspect every customer service line?

City of Davis will use several methods to determine if a customer has a lead service line.  It may not be necessary for us to conduct a physical inspection of the property. If we plan on performing a site visit you will be notified prior to conducting any work near the water meter. If your home was built after 1985 it is unlikely that your service line will be inspected due to it being installed after the state and federal lead bans of 1986.

17. If my home’s plumbing has lead solder, how can I protect myself right now?

When your water has been sitting for several hours, you can minimize the potential for lead exposure by flushing your tap for 30 seconds to 2 minutes before using water for drinking or cooking. If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Information on lead in drinking water, test methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1-800-426-4791), or at www.epa.gov 

18. Where can I find more information about what is in my water?

Go to the City's Water Quality page to read more.