Commission Explains Lead Service Line Notices
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Utility Commission workers will log long hours in the coming days including this weekend to catch up on debris removal in the city.
Utility Commission workers will log long hours in the coming days including this weekend to catch up on debris removal in the city.
WATER VALLEY — The Water Valley Utilities Commission is assuring customers that letters mailed last week about potential lead service lines were sent to comply with federal regulations and do not mean most recipients have lead pipes.
Commission Chairman Brandon Presley said the notices were required to meet a July 1 reporting deadline established under federal and state drinking water regulations. The letters represent the second consecutive year the notices have been mailed.
The Water Valley Utilities Commission assumed operation of the city’s water department in March and inherited a city inventory identifying approximately 1,750 customers as potentially having lead service lines. Presley said current staff and the commission’s certified water operator estimate the actual number is closer to 70 homes.
Because the inventory on file with the state has not yet been corrected, the commission was required to mail notices to every customer identified in the existing records.
Presley said the inflated inventory was created before the Utilities Commission assumed responsibility for the water system. He said he believes the previous reporting was made “out of an abundance of caution” when the inventory was first required, resulting in far more properties being listed than are believed to actually have lead service lines.
The commission is now working with the Mississippi Rural Water Association and the Mississippi State Department of Health to verify service line materials and update the inventory.
Presley said the service lines in question are the lines running from the water meter to individual homes, not the city’s water mains. Those service lines are the responsibility of the property owner.
He said he expects the vast majority of customers will not receive the notices again once the inventory has been updated.
Customers with questions about the notices may contact the Water Valley Utilities Commission at 833-262-3985.
In other commission news:
The Water Valley Utilities Commission officially assumed responsibility Monday for the collection of limbs, brush and bulky household items following action by the mayor and Board of Aldermen transferring oversight of the service to the commission.
Presley said commission personnel surveyed the city Sunday in preparation for the transition, identifying 265 locations with brush or limb piles and 86 locations with bulky household items awaiting pickup.
“We want to make sure to get this removed as soon as possible to help contribute to the city-wide cleanup for the Watermelon Carnival,” Presley said.
Residents needing brush, limb or bulky item pickup may text the Water Valley Utilities Commission at 833-262-3985 to report items ready for collection.
