Check your pipes: New initiative set to remove lead pipes from Zanesville homes
This news article was submitted WHIZ news intern Maddie Luebkert
ZANESVILLE, Ohio — The City of Zanesville is taking part in the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Get Lead Out initiative” to locate and remove lead pipes from Zanesville homes.
Homes built before 1988 could contain lead in their waterlines, which could contaminate drinking water and harm children’s health. To prevent lead poisoning in drinking water, the city encourages residents to check their pipes with help from free on-site verification from the Zanesville Water Department and methods for homeowners to perform at-home tests.
“So, the U.S. and the Ohio EPA are requiring those who provide water, in this case the City of Zanesville, to do a survey of all the residential properties in order to determine if there is lead in the system that’s coming from, for example, water faucets, the piping within the property, or some other reason,” Zanesville Mayor Don Mason said.
A QR code survey will be sent out in the mail that residents can scan and fill out to notify the Water Department that there may be lead pipes in the property. To check for lead pipes, the city recommends using a key or coin to scratch the surface of the pipe. If the pipe turns silver and is easy to scratch, it could contain lead. The city also recommends holding a magnet to the pipe. If the magnet does not stick, it could mean the pipe contains lead. The Zanesville Water Department can then replace lead pipes and aging water meters.
“They’ll be getting in the mail a document with a little scan, a code, that is the easiest way of addressing that. It’ll just ask you some questions and if you don’t know the answer there’s a box on there that you can check where you’ll let us know to come out,” Mason said.
For help identifying what type of material of service line pipes, call the Zanesville Water Department at (740) 617-4953. To learn more about the initiative and scan the service line identification QR code, visit the City of Zanesville Website at COZ.org.
