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Inventory
In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency revised its Lead and Copper Rule to better protect children and communities from risks related to lead exposure in drinking water. Improvements in the new rule included the requirement that water systems identify and make public locations of lead service lines by October 2024. The Rehoboth Beach water department began efforts in summer 2022 to inventory water service lines on private property and the inventory is now available here.
Note that the entire water service line, from the main to the building, is owned by the property owner. The city maintains all water service lines from the main to the meter at the expense of the property owner.
The city’s water department serves about 6,000 customers within and around the City of Rehoboth Beach. Like water departments around the country, the Rehoboth Beach Water Department has been tasked through the Lead and Copper Rule revisions with taking an inventory of service lines on public as well as on private property.
The city has a good understanding of the materials used on the public side of water lines. It knows that about 2,500 of its approximately 6,000 connections from the water main to service lines have lead goosenecks. These lead goosenecks are not considered problematic unless they or the service line are disturbed (for service line repairs, for example). Over time, the city is working to replace these goosenecks as repairs are required or annual replacement is scheduled. All other service lines and connections are believed to be made of materials other than lead, often PVC. The federal government banned the use of lead pipes and solder in new plumbing systems in 1986, but the EPA estimates that 6-10 million lead service lines remain in operation across the country.
Through the inventory taken over the past three years, the city has identified the material of many of the lines on private property. Many lines, however, remain unidentified. Contact the water department to schedule an inspection or discuss other methods for identifying the material used in your service line.
