The letters are part of a mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency and Iowa Department of Natural Resources notifying residents if their water service lines are made of lead or galvanized metal or if it is unknown what they are made of.

The letters let residents know that their drinking water may be exposed to lead and its harmful effects.

“The ultimate goal is going to be to get the lead out of the ground and to be replaced so that people have safe drinking water and they don’t have to worry about that lead factor,” said Public Works Director Brett Daniel. “But I don’t want people to panic and think that they have to replace them immediately. Essentially, they just need to be aware of what they have and that they may have lead or galvanized and be aware of what that means and do their due diligence.”

According to Daniel, to compile the data, the city has made use of plat sheets which show the materials used when the houses and mains were put in. City workers also utilized details on the lines from the previous meter replacement project.

“We’ve been putting the details together on this project for some time,” said Daniel. “We’ll be sending out a letter to those with lead pipes, a separate letter to those with galvanized, and those with pipes that we aren’t sure on, they’ll receive the unknown service line material letter.”

The DNR has mandated that cities throughout Iowa notify residents who have lead or galvanized pipes.

“It doesn’t mean they definitely have health hazards,” said Daniel. “It just means that the potential is there. I would recommend at some point those that are unknown that they should find out what it is. If it’s lead or galvanized, they should consider replacing it in the near future as they’re able to, but again, these letters are not mandating that that has to happen right now. It’s to make residents aware of what they have.”

Daniel said that a timeline or mandated replacement has not been set and the current letter is solely to make home owners aware of the material makeup of their service lines. However, the replacement of lead and galvanized lines will more than likely be on the horizon. As a reminder, said Daniel, residents are financially responsible for the service line from their home out to the water main’s hookup located in the street. Daniel said that he hopes grant funding will be available in the future for projects such as these.

The letters, which will be mailed out to residents this week, include links to the EPA as well as details on how to contact the Public Works Department with questions and concerns.