City public works staff will be going door-to-door this month to inspect water service lines related to a new lead and copper rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The changes include increased water testing and the city must identify the types of water pipes throughout the city.
City staff has been preparing for the federal changes and working on the inventory for several years.
The city posted the inventory of known lead, copper and galvanized water services lines, as well as those that were unknown, with their addresses, on Oct. 16, as required by the EPA.
The city used historical records to identify as many service line materials as possible, and sent 10,000 letters to property owners who might have non-copper service lines in the summer of 2022 asking them to do identification tests of their pipes.
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The city adopted rules in the 1960s or 70s that prohibited lead pipes and they can use that documentation to help identify what type of pipes are where in the city.
As of May 2023, the city had identified 14,846 or 67.8 percent lines as non-lead; 142 or 0.6 percent as lead; 502 or 2.3 percent as galvanized; and 6,423 or 29.3 percent as unknown.
Only about 3,000 people had responded to the letters about identifying service lines, James Hewitt of public works told commissioners during their June 2024 work session.
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Staff followed up with phone calls and Hewitt said in June that they ask homeowners to return the info or staff will go out and help them get the info to identify the line material.
Hewitt said homeowners aren’t returning messages, hanging up on staff or choosing not to participate.
Hewett told commissioners during the June 4 meeting that they’d completed the follow up calls with roughly 7,500 homeowners.
During their Sept. 17 work session, Mark Juras of public works told commissioners that staff has been continuing to follow-up with homeowners and over the winter months will be going door to door in an attempt to collect that information.
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As of Sept. 17, staff had identified the following service lines in the city limits:
- non-lead: 15,664 or 71.9 percent
- lead: 157 or 0.7 percent
- galvanized: 590 or 2.7 percent
- unknown: 5,378 or 24.7 percent
Unknown lines are considered lead until proven otherwise under the EPA regulations.
During that September update to commissioners about the rules and inventory, staff said they’d send notice to property owners with unknown lines within 30 days of the Oct. 16 publishing.
The city mailed about 6,000 letters or notices on Nov. 8 to residents with service lines of non-conforming materials, Juras told The Electric.
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For citizens who receive a notice indicating their services line is of unknown material, staff is asking them to call the city’s Water Service Hotline at 406-455-8401 to speak to staff to get the service line material identified.
As of Nov. 19, the city had received about 200 calls and identified about 50 unknown service lines, Juras told The Electric.
This month, city staff is going door to door, visiting addresses that have unknown service lines and will leave a door hanger is no one answers.
Staff won’t visit residents who didn’t receive a letter or properties that aren’t listed as unknown on the city’s water service inventory.
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City inspectors will request to enter the building or crawl space to visually see the water service line to determine the material. These employees will have City of Great Falls identification with their name and photo.
If no one answers when the inspector knocks, staff will leave door hangers with instructions to schedule an inspection or complete the inspection yourself and email the information to the city.
