Are your water lines leaded or unleaded? As DC Water works on lead pipe replacement, it’s not always easy to find out

by Marlene Berlin

The day before the snowcrete fell, DC Water came to my block to post “No Parking” signs. It was another sign that the utility’s lead service line replacement project would soon arrive on my street.

On some streets west of Connecticut Avenue, DC Water is also digging up and replacing the water mains. The lead pipe project, being done block by block, is focused on determining whether any part of the service line from the main line to a house is lead. Then, if lead is found, the pipe is replaced, even on private property.

I had plenty of warning. DC Water was at the ANC 3F meeting in September, and its presentation included a list of blocks in line for lead or galvanized pipe replacement, including my own.

I had also received a mailing about signing up for lead or galvanized pipe replacement, and a young man came by last fall to ask again.

I told him that I was not interested, since I thought my home was in the clear. DC Water had labeled my house as “suspected non-lead” on its Water Service Information Map. We had also tested our water for lead, and we filter our water.

My neighbors on my side and the other side of the street were largely in the same boat, save for one marked “suspected lead.” Then, DC Water began to dig in front of the suspected non-lead houses, too.

I was scratching my head. Why, I wondered, were they not simply testing our water? Wouldn’t that be cheaper and easier than digging? I posed the questions to DC Water, and the head of the lead project explained that water testing is an unreliable method for determining lead levels. Even a negative test in the past is no guarantee in the future, because a lead pipe’s lining can wear out at any point, and begin leaching lead into the water. The only option is replacement.

I also learned that lead pipe segments could have been added through work or repairs, so to be 100% certain a water line is lead-free, it would have be 100% dug up.

DC Water isn’t going that far. It’s using three points to determine a home’s lead status: Digging at the water meter in the tree box area, at the property line in public space, and inside for a scratch test.

A graphic from a DC Department of Energy and Environment website explaining the DC Water project. Sometimes, it’s the DC-owned segment that contains lead, or both do. The District is covering the cost of lead pipe replacement even on private property.

It appears from talking to my neighbors that two points of determination for “suspected non-lead” is adequate for DC Water.

Also, I learned about the scratch test not from DC Water but from my next-door neighbor. He refused to let DC Water dig up his driveway, and instead invited them into his basement for a scratch test of the pipe entering his house. It was not lead.

But in some cases, lead is discovered. One neighbor’s home had, like mine, been in the system as “suspected non-lead”, but she told me that DC Water found a lead pipe attached to the service line. They dug up some of her front yard to replace it.

Now, I am waiting for my turn. I have a finished basement, and DC Water will not be able to gain access to the pipes for the scratch test unless I let them cut into the drywall. The other option is digging a deep hole in my yard.