SAWS outlines service‑line inventory and timeline to address lead, says private‑side replacements fall to homeowners

Kistrian Eller, water‑quality supervisor at the San Antonio Water System (SAWS), told the SAWS Board that the utility is creating a service‑line inventory to identify lead and galvanized lines and comply with federal revisions to the national lead and copper rule.

The inventory effort covers an estimated 642,000 service lines served by SAWS — about 453,000 of those inside the city limits — and will rely on historical records, physical inspections, emerging detection technologies and customer self‑reports. SAWS staff said they have about 11,000 customers already interested in investigating their service‑line material.

The effort is tied to the Environmental Protection Agency’s revised lead and copper requirements. Eller said the 1991 rule and subsequent revisions culminated in a 2021 revision that set new compliance obligations; the utility had an October 16, 2024 compliance date for some requirements and has a work timeline that SAWS staff said will run through 2027 for portions of the process and requires removal of applicable lead lines by 2037.

SAWS staff described how they will build the inventory and identify likely…