You may have received a notice in the mail recently about checking your pipes for lead. Houston is tackling lead risks by finding and replacing any potentially dangerous water pipes, in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR). The deadline for cities to take an initial inventory of what materials their pipes are made of was October 16, and in the Bayou City, the status of hundreds of thousands of lines is still unknown.

Lead exposure can have serious implications on health, such as causing developmental issues and damage to the nervous system, particularly for vulnerable populations like children and pregnant women, who are more susceptible to it. This initiative is part of a broader national push to address contaminated service lines and aging water infrastructure.

In 2014, Flint, Michigan, became a focal point for these concerns when the city switched its water source to the Flint River to save costs without properly treating it. This caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the supply, exposing thousands of residents to dangerously high levels of lead and sparking widespread health problems—including 12 people dying of Legionnaires’ disease—national outrage, lawsuits, and investigations. This highlighted the need for strict oversight of water infrastructure across the country.

Using lead for plumbing has been banned in Texas since 1988, but the material was commonly used nationwide from the late 1800s to the 1940s, according to the EPA. Houston’s water system was established in 1879. While Houston Public Works (HPW) has yet to detect lead in its own water lines, a significant portion of the picture remains unclear. This is largely because HPW has little information on the pipes of homes built before the ban. Service lines are split into two parts: the city-owned utility side from the water main to the meter and the customer-owned side from the meter to the property. These lines connect the city’s water main to individual properties, but sections may use different materials.

Of the 534,165 total lines, the department states that 447,955 service lines have unknown material either in the private or public section, or both. HPW has identified the materials of 86,210 pipes. The EPA announced on October 8 that agencies have 10 years to replace any lead pipes found during this inventory.

HPW has been reviewing plumbing records from the Houston Permitting Center, building codes, and historic infrastructure design manuals. Pinpointing the exact number of lead service lines remains challenging, especially given the gaps in historical records and the city’s aging infrastructure. Service lines installed decades ago often predate comprehensive records, making physical inspections essential for accurate identification. “Some records of public water service line materials may have been lost over time as inventory moved from paper records to digital,” Erin Jones, acting communications director for HPW, wrote in an email to Houstonia.

HPW has already sent out over 429,000 physical mail notices to residents with unknown service line materials, urging them to self-report. “The City of Houston recommends customers check and self-report their private water service line material if they are able,” Jones said. “Those unable to self-report will remain on our list for test holing.” This will begin later this year.

One day before the EPA deadline, the agency published an inventory map where residents can check the status of their water service lines. If the status is unknown, residents are being asked to identify the materials themselves and submit the findings through an online portal. To do this, find where the line enters your home (often outside or in a crawl space), peel back any insulation, and give it a scratch with a key. Shiny and silver means it’s lead, gray and magnetic is galvanized steel, and copper or gold is either copper or brass. The data collected will help HPW create a more accurate inventory of service lines and prioritize replacement efforts.

As part of the effort to mitigate health risks, HPW is also providing information on how residents can reduce lead exposure in their drinking water, using guidelines from organizations like the CDC and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The city is encouraging residents to flush their taps before using water, especially if they live in an older home and if the service lines are unknown or potentially lead-based.

As the decade-long timeline unfolds, Houston’s pipe replacements are set to be a significant undertaking, but Jones assures residents that the testing will not impact water service.