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Hopkinsville utility: no lead service lines found; 2,000 customers to get notice about galvanized piping
Summary
Hopkinsville water authority officials told the Committee of the Whole they found no lead service lines but must notify about roughly 2,000 customer-side galvanized service lines that cannot be ruled out under the revised Lead and Copper Rule; regulators require replacement of unresolved lines by Nov. 1, 2027.
Derek Watson, a representative of Hopkinsville water staff, told the Hopkinsville City Committee of the Whole on Feb. 20 that the utility "did not find any lead service lines in our area." He said the authority visually verified service-line material in meter boxes and other records and submitted an inventory on Oct. 14, 2024 as required by the revised lead and copper rule.
Watson said state regulators (identified in the meeting as the Division of Water) asked for further proof regarding whether any customer-owned galvanized lines might historically have been downstream of lead service lines. He said that left about 5,000 customer-owned galvanized service lines that required additional verification and that the authority planned to mail notices to customers it could not rule out. "Part of the key dates, some of the deadlines we've gotta meet, next Thursday, we need to have our customers notified by mail," Watson said.
Why it matters: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule require water systems to inventory service-line materials and notify customers when the utility cannot rule out potential lead exposure ports. Watson explained galvanized piping is not made of lead but can trap scale inside which "if that water line was disturbed" could release trapped lead to drinking water.
Details from the utility: Watson said the authority reviewed roughly 18,000 meter boxes and has ledger books dating to the 1800s that sometimes list materials (for example, some entries explicitly list copper) but most records list only addresses and sizes, not material. He said staff will search historical documents, as‑built plans and other records to reduce the number of uncertain lines. He described a phased next step: sending the required mailer with EPA-prescribed language and a QR code linking to the utility website, researching records to rule out lines where possible, and preparing a replacement plan for lines that remain unresolved by the Nov. 1, 2027 compliance date.
Watson emphasized the notice is a regulatory requirement and not evidence of a current violation: "these postcards aren't saying that HWA has done anything wrong. We haven't had any kind of violation. It's just a requirement of this rule that if we have a customer with a galvanized service line that we can't verify, then we've got to notify them." He added the utility uses a corrosion inhibitor and has been monitoring lead and copper since the 1990s and remains in compliance.
Council questions and staff response: A council member asked whether the utility will assist customers who call to get their service line verified. Watson said staff can advise customers on testing and that the authority can tell customers what the database shows about their service line even if the customer did not receive a postcard. He also said the EPA has recommended against running cameras inside service lines because the camera could disturb scale and release trapped material.
Next steps: Watson said letters would be mailed "maybe tomorrow or Monday by the latest," staff will research historical records to reduce the list of uncertain lines, and the utility will prepare a replacement plan for service lines that cannot be ruled out before the 2027 deadline. City council members were warned to expect constituent questions once the mailers go out.
