The City of Paris is moving into phase two of a water connection inventory as part of an Environmental Protection Agency initiative for safer drinking water. All water suppliers must inventory service lines to determine what materials are used in the connections. The city met the Oct. 16 deadline for submitting the preliminary service line inventory to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Service Lines are the pipes that connect a water main to the water meter and from the meter to a home or business. The city owns the section between the water main and the meter, and the customer is responsible for the line from the meter to the structure.
In phase two, the city will continue working to identify service line materials and mail letters to any customer where the preliminary inventory lists the service line material as unknown. The EPA initiative intends to identify and ultimately remove any drinking water lines made of or that may include parts containing lead.
The city worked with Garver USA, an engineering, planning, and environmental services firm, to complete the preliminary inventory, identifying about 9,200 connections as unknown.
“If you receive a letter, it simply means that your service line material is unknown and is on the list for inspection in the future,” Interim Director of Utilities Danny Rowell said. “Inspections are typically simple, only needing access to the meter box near the street to examine the lines connecting on each side of the water meter.”
The city has developed a web page, www.ParisTexas.gov/ServiceLine, with additional information about the service line inventory process.
