LIMA, OH (WLIO) - The City of Lima is finishing up phase one and heading into phase two of its lead service line replacement program.
Letters are being mailed to water customers who may have lead water service pipes. The EPA requires that those pipes be replaced. The city has received grant money to replace those lines free of charge to the residents. Phase one had 500 letters sent out, with 200 lines being replaced. There will be several phases, with letters being sent out as the city has around 25,000 water customers. Not all of them have lead pipes, and the department is trying to find out who still has them.
"Some of the letters we send out are just for investigations. We don't really know what you have on your private side. We don't track the private side, so we don't have records of that. As we do have to have it reported to the EPA that all these lead lines eventually are changed out. We do want to make sure everyone is safe. So we would appreciate if people would work with us. It is free. We're not charging the owners. We just want to make sure everyone is safe and comply with the EPA regulations," explained Sara Weekley, deputy director of utilities for the City of Lima.
The City of Lima meets all requirements for lead-free water from the plant. This program is precautionary for privately owned water line services into the home that are lead. The city needs a response for consent from these homeowners by July 1st to have the line replaced at no cost.
