Aqua Notifying Customers About Lead Service Lines

STRUTHERS, Ohio – Aqua is working with regulatory agencies to notify by mail customers in the Struthers service area who have service lines made of lead, galvanized steel or unknown material. 

Service lines connect homes or other buildings to water mains. Locations with service lines that have been confirmed to be made of other nonlead-bearing materials will not receive a notification.

The notification letters are being sent for informational and regulatory purposes, and customers aren’t being asked to take any action at this time. The letters provide tips to limit exposure to lead and inform customers that Aqua is working to identify unknown service line materials and replace those made of lead or galvanized steel.

“Aqua’s mission is to deliver safe, reliable water service,” said Jenniffer Johnson, area manager of Aqua’s Struthers Division. “We’re working with the EPA to identify lead lines. Once they’ve been identified, we’ll work with property owners to replace those lines.”

Research has linked lead with serious health complications, especially in young children, a news release states. In Ohio, lead service lines have been prohibited for use in plumbing since 1988. Homes built earlier could still have lead service lines.

Aqua serves about 60,000 people in the Mahoning Valley in the cities of Campbell and Struthers; villages of Lowellville, New Middletown and Poland; and Beaver, Boardman, Canfield, Coitsville, Poland and Springfield townships.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.