Stricter requirements regarding lead are in the pipeline for water systems across the country, and the City of Minot has been getting ready.

As part of that preparation, city residents have been asked, and some already have responded, to help identify whether the water lines entering their homes are lead, copper or another material.

Jason Sorenson, the city’s Utilities Department director, outlined the requirements and the activities taking place to meet them at the Minot City Council meeting Tuesday. He explained lead service lines, which run from a water system’s main line into a building, have been common sources, along with some brass and bronze faucets that at one time were made to include lead.

The Environmental Protection Agency adopted the lead and copper rule in 1991 that reduced the level of lead at which water systems must take action from 50 parts per million to 15 ppm. Action is required if more than 10% of samples test above 15 ppm.

In 1997, the City of Minot exceeded the action level.

“There’s some debate as to what caused it. At that time, we had switched disinfectants,” Sorenson said. “At the same time, there was a change at the water plant to a different corrosion control product and there’s some theories that could have exacerbated the disinfection issue.”

The city came back into compliance in 1999. To do so, the city discontinued use of the Souris River because the water quality was too changeable. It also increased its water sampling, Sorenson said.

“Over the course of those two years, we used quite a few different products, to varying success. We landed on one that basically got us in compliance and has kind of held us there,” he said. “Every time we go to a sampling event, we still have a couple of samples that test above the action level.”

The city currently tests every three years.

Sorenson said the lead rule is in the process of being updated to a new action level of 10 ppm. The federal government’s intent is to see replacement of all lead service lines within 10 years, with grants to the states to help achieve that goal, he said.

The new rule is tentatively expected to come out at the end of this year and take effect three years later, Sorenson said. Based on sampling levels in the fourth year, mandatory service line replacements would trigger in the next year, or 2029 in the projected scenario.

“The issue that we’re going to have when we get into lead service line replacements is now you have a property line boundary. So, the City of Minot is going to be responsible for lead and copper testing and replacement of service lines on private property of a private utility. The city does not own the service line into a house,” Sorenson said. “If we use State Revolving Fund dollars through the state, there’s 66% grant funding. But there will still be the issue of the 34%”

Special assessing the work would discourage cooperation from homeowners, who must let crews into their homes to do the repairs, Sorenson said. As a possible option, he suggested having the city take ownership of the line to make the repairs and then return the finished product back to the property owner.

City residents have been asked to report to the city whether their lines are lead or another material. An online portal was set up to aid in that reporting process. Homeowners who have questions or need assistance in checking their service lines should contact the Public Works Department.

The lead issue largely affects properties built before 1986, and the city has about 16,000 service lines that fall into that category. Of the lines whose makeup is known, only about 285 have been identified as lead, Sorenson estimated.

“We still have about 8,265 unknowns,” he said. “Anything that is unknown is assumed to be lead. Where this becomes an issue is if we get into mandatory replacements and we’re doing 10 percent of 8,000 instead of 10 percent of maybe it’s only 1,000 actual lead lines that we have. So, the inventory piece over the next couple of years can be pretty important for us to keep working through.”

In addition to residential reporting, the city has scoured its public records and has been identifying any lead service line connections during its watermain projects. As a last resort when service lines can’t be identified through other means, excavation for inspection must be conducted.

The city is due to report its lead pipeline inventory to the state Department of Environmental Quality in October.

Meanwhile, other changes are coming to the Minot Water Treatment Plant.

“One of the things that we are going to do at the plant is we’re going to switch corrosion control products,” Sorenson said, expressing hope that the new chemical will lower lead levels in water. The city also will be switching to Missouri River water as part of the Northwest Area Water Supply Project, possibly in about a year and half, which will create different water chemistries and trigger additional testing.