Lead Protection for Longmont Water
The City of Longmont is committed to providing high quality, reliable drinking water. Rest assured, Longmont’s drinking water is safe for you to drink and use. Our treated drinking water consistently surpasses state and federal standards; additional information can be found in the City’s annual Drinking Water Quality Report.
In recent years, there has been greater national awareness of the potential health risks of lead in drinking water. Managing lead in water is a public health responsibility that is shared among water utilities, consumers, manufacturers, regulators, plumbers and more.
The water leaving Longmont’s water treatment facility is effectively lead-free, and our water testing confirms lead does not come from our water supplies or the City’s water main lines. Longmont’s water is also treated to reduce corrosion potential, reducing the opportunity for lead to enter your water. Longmont water has been tested for lead for over 20 years and results have been below regulatory limits.
Lead can enter drinking water when household plumbing containing lead corrodes or deteriorates allowing lead to seep into the water. A water “service line” is the piping that connects the City’s water main in the water distribution system to a building or a home. As water runs through lead service line pipes or fixtures containing lead, the lead can dissolve or break off into tiny particles – ending up in drinking water. The figure below shows how a household might commonly be connected to the City’s water main and potential sources of lead-containing fixtures or lead service lines.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified water service lines made of lead as a potential source of lead contamination in public water systems. In 2021, the EPA announced updates to drinking water regulations requiring water systems to investigate the materials of water service lines in their system and develop a comprehensive inventory by October 2024.
The City of Longmont water service line investigation completed in 2024 resulted in a Non-Lead classification for all water service lines in the City.
The investigation was performed using a combination of extensive historic records reviews and statistical methods as prescribed in the Colorado Primary Drinking Water Regulations (5 CCR 1002-11) and the Safe Drinking Water Program Implementation Policy DW018.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment outlined 4 steps to help municipalities inventory their water systems:
The City has nearly 31,000 service lines within our water system. To search for any evidence of potential lead service lines, an exhaustive review of historic documentation was conducted including:
- water permits,
- maintenance records,
- project construction drawings,
- legacy and retired staff interviews,
- standards for approved construction materials.
No evidence was found showing that lead pipes were used to build water mains, service lines, or connectors (often called “goosenecks” or “pigtails”) after 1959. State officials determined all service lines for homes constructed after 1959 would be considered non-lead, given the findings of this records review. One exception was found where lead service lines may have been installed for some businesses on Main Street between 2nd Avenue and 6th Avenue in the early 1900s; however, all water service lines in this corridor were replaced during water line rehabilitation projects between 1987 and 1999.
This investigation found that approximately 26,000 service lines are non-lead. The remaining ~4,000 water mains and service lines were deemed “unknown” and moved to Step 2 of the process.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment outlined a “minimum service line material verification (MSLMV)” process that provided guidance on how to statistically demonstrate if and where lead service lines are present in the water system. More information can be found on this selection process in Section 2.2.2 of the State of Colorado Safe Drinking Water Program Implementation Policy DW018. This statistical approach enables public water systems to draw conclusions about a large number of service lines from a smaller, randomly selected group of service lines. This process establishes a 95% confidence level that the system does not contain lead.
Following this approach, the City physically verified the pipe material for 351 randomly-selected and statistically representative water service lines. Each service line was physically verified in two locations:
- Once on the system-owned side (shown in the Water Service Line Ownership and Responsibility image in blue) and
- Once on the customer-owned side (shown in the same image in orange).
The City was able to physically verify each of these service lines through the following techniques:
- Customer participation with inspections of service lines where they enter the home
- Visual verifications through the Waterline Replacement Program
- Visual inspections conducted by the City of Longmont Operations and Maintenance Team
- City-contracted services to expose and inspect the service lines.
The City of Longmont water service line investigation completed in 2024 resulted in a Non-Lead classification for all water service lines in the City.
While some historical records could be used as definitive evidence of non-lead service line materials (like engineering standards or recent maintenance records), many record types required more evidence to be deemed reliable. Physically verifying a statistically representative number of service lines gave the City a unique opportunity to cross-reference the historical records used in Step 1 with findings in the field from Step 2.
The City found consistency between the field investigations and information found in documents that may be perceived as unreliable or non-definitive (for example, notations on construction drawings, water permits, institutional knowledge and recollection, etc.).
If a water system has been classified as “Non-Lead“, per the guidelines and processes set forth by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the final step is to submit these findings to State officials.
What about the remaining service lines that have not been field-investigated? The City is committed to continually updating our service line inventory. We do this by actively gathering information about service line materials from the following year-round tasks:
- Pipe inspections through regular maintenance activities like meter pit inspections or meter replacements.
- Information from building permits where contractors are required to verify in-home piping materials
- Information gathered from annual waterline replacement projects.
If any lead service lines are found through these activities, additional investigations will take place in coordination with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Because there is no evidence of active lead water service lines, physical verification of every service line is not necessary at this time. However, the City will continue to update its water service line inventory during all routine maintenance and construction activities that expose a water service line.
Residents may wish to verify the material of their own water service line to verify it is non-lead. The video below demonstrates a quick and easy way to determine your service line material
- If you suspect you may have a lead water service line, please contact the City’s Customer Service Center by calling 303-651-8416.
- Use a water filter that is labeled as NSF/ANSI certified. Filter water for drinking, making tea and coffee; when cooking food like rice, pasta, beans and soup; and for preparing baby formula. Follow manufacturer recommendations on filter replacements. Using the cartridge after it has expired can make it less effective at removing lead. Never run hot water through the water filter.
- Inspect plumbing and fixtures installed prior to 1987 inside homes and buildings. If your fixtures are not lead-free, replace them and/or use certified filters before drinking, cooking, or other consumption. See EPA information How to Identify Lead Free Certification Marks for Drinking Water System & Plumbing Products, and consult with a licensed plumber for help.
- Clean out faucet aerators (the small screen added to the end of a faucet) as they may have trapped particles from older service lines. Not sure how to clean a faucet aerator? Watch a video demonstration from Today’s Homeowner to learn how.
- Run your water to flush out lines if they haven’t been used in several hours. Activities such as showering, doing laundry, cleaning or watering houseplants will help flush lines while conserving water before using for consumption.
- Always use cold water for drinking, cooking and preparing baby formula. You cannot boil lead out of water.
- Never cook with or drink water from the hot water tap.
Longmont is committed to working with business and residential property owners, as well as childcare centers, to identify potential lead service lines, test water for lead and take appropriate actions based on those results. Here are some helpful resources:
- American Water Works Get the Lead Out Video
- EPA Infographic on Sources of Lead in Drinking Water
- EPA Basic Information about Lead in Drinking Water
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
- How to Identify Lead Free Certification Marks for Drinking Water System & Plumbing Products
- Consumer Tool for Identifying Point of Use (POU) Drinking Water Filters Certified to Reduce Lead
- Test and Fix Water For Kids – mandatory lead sampling for schools and child care programs (Colorado HB22-1358)