Self Reporting Service Line Inventory Questionaire

New EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) regulations require us to notify all customers served through a water service line made of lead, galvanized steel that is or was downstream of lead, or unknown materials. It is meant to explain the health risks of lead exposure, share simple precautions that can be taken to minimize any, and where to find more information about lead safety.

The letter does not mean that lead is present in your drinking water. EPA requires all public water systems to send this notification to customers annually. You will continue to receive a copy of this letter each year until your service line is replaced, or if it is "unknown", until the material is confirmed to be non-lead.

Yes. The Northern Cambria Municipal Authority (NCMA) treats, tests, and distributes high-quality drinking water to you and the community. Water provided by NCMA water is lead-free when it leaves our treatment plants, and our water mains (the pipes that distribute water throughout the community) are not made of lead. NCMA manages the water quality at each treatment facility to help prevent corrosion throughout the system and in privately-owned service lines and plumbing.

We regularly test our water for lead and other contaminants in accordance with EPA standards. Our water consistently meets or exceeds all federal and state safety standards, and in all of our sampling, we have never had lead levels exceed the EPA’s action level.

After water leaves the NCMA water main, it may be exposed to lead as it flows through privately-owned water service lines and indoor plumbing and fixtures. NCMA routinely tests water at 20 sites throughout the entire water distribution system to confirm the water meets all state and federal requirements, including lead and copper limits. However, like all public water systems across the United States right now, we are diligently working to find and remove all lead containing components that could pose any health risk to our community.

No. We are specifically concerned about water service lines made of lead, or galvanized steel pipe that may have been attached to a lead connector or ‘gooseneck’, which is a short flexible piece of pipe (often made of lead) that was commonly used to connect service lines to water mains. A large majority of homes and non-residential buildings we serve do not have these, however since we lack the documentation needed to prove otherwise, there is the potential for some service lines to have a gooseneck.  

The water service line is the pipe that connects a home or other types of buildings to the NCMA-owned water distribution system. Water service lines are the piping that carries water from the town’s public water supply in the underground water mains outside of your property directly to the plumbing fixtures inside of your property.

The property-owner owns and maintains the water service from the Curb Box into the house.  The NCMA owns and maintains the section of service line that runs from the water main to the Curb Box.

The NCMA has identified all our Authority owned lines and there is no lead.  However, we still have many customers who service line from the curb box to the inside of their home is still "unknown".  If there are no records to indicate the material of the customer owned portion of the service line then it is listed as ‘Unknown’, in which case NCMA will continue its efforts over the next several years to figure out the material of your service line. 

The NCMA is still asking our customers to please complete the Customer Survey Form below. Enter your address, account number, select the material that the private portion of your service line is made of (if you were able to determine), and upload one or more pictures of your pipe where it enters the building.

If you would like to have you’re water quality tested, at your own expense, you should contact a state-certified laboratory. We regularly test our water for lead and other contaminants in accordance with EPA standards. Our water consistently meets or exceeds all federal and state safety standards, and in all of our sampling, we have never had lead levels exceed the EPA’s action level, and you can verify this data by going to our website where you will find our Consumer Confidence Report (CRR)  or you may also get a hard copy at our office located at 1202 Philadelphia Avenue.

If you have a service line made of lead or galvanized steel requiring replacement, or if you want to take extra measure to protect yourself in the event you have any lead in your interior plumbing and fixtures, here are simple measure that can be taken to reduce your risk.

• Replace plumbing materials containing lead and safely remove lead paint. Contact us to      let us know you plan to replace your line. Also consider replacing brass      faucets, fittings, and valves in your building plumbing that contain lead.      If you believe you have lead paint, hire a professional to safely remove it.
• Run the cold water to  flush out lead. The longer the water sits on leaded plumbing, the more lead it may contain. Let the water run from the tap before using it for drinking or cooking any time the water in the faucet has gone unused for more than six hours. For more detailed instructions on flushing, please refer to EPA guidance at http://www.epa.gov/
• Use cold, flushed water for cooking and preparing baby formula. Lead can dissolve into hot water more easily than cold water. Note that boiling water does not remove lead.
• Remove and clean aerators/screens on plumbing fixtures. Over time, lead sediment can collect in aerator screens. Remove and clean aerators screens at least twice a year by soaking the screen in vinegar and scrubbing it with a toothbrush.
• Test your water for lead. State-approved commercial labs provide water testing kits for lead. Like lead swabs, water testing may help you identify sources of lead in your building plumbing.
• Get your child tested. If you believe your child has been exposed to lead, contact your local health department or healthcare provider to find out how you can order a blood test.
• Purchase a water filter. Some water filters are designed to remove lead from your tap water. Read the package to be sure the filter is approved to reduce lead.

Yes, All of our Authority owned service lines were replaced after the Lead Ban in 1991, and we have not encountered any customer owned service lines that need replaced at this point in time.  We believe that when the water line projects went thru the area (Barnesboro side in 2006) and (Spangler side in1997) that all customer side service lines were replaced at that time if it was seen to be a Lead line, when they were exposed, but we are not aware of any.  If we do find any, the EPA has proposed requiring all public water systems ensure these service lines are replaced no later than 2037.