The Green Bay Water Authority is seeking the public's help to identify material found the Private Water Service line used in more than 2,100 homes in the city.
A new ordinance requires all homes with lead water service lines to be replaced. Identified homeowners will receive a postcard alerting them that an unknown material could be entering their home through the water line and the small possibility it could be made of lead.
The 2,182 identified homes all have Private Water Service Lines that were installed prior to 1945, the year Green Bay stopped installing lead water service lines. The material used in the Utility-owned Water Service Lines of these properties is not lead.
The postcard will also include directions for identifying the material of the home’s Private Water Service Line, along with instructions for reporting the findings to Green Bay Water Utility.
“It is important that these homeowners identify the material of their Private Water Service Lines and report the findings back to us as soon as possible, even if the material is not lead,” said Nancy Quirk, general manager of Green Bay Water Utility. “If homeowners discover their Private Water Service Lines are lead, they may be eligible to have them replaced at no cost. We have funding available now to cover 100% of the replacement fee, but we do not know how much longer the funds will be available.”
To make the requested assistance as easy as possible, Green Bay Water Utility has created brochures in English, Spanish and Hmong with pictorial directions for identifying the Private Water Service Line material; these can be downloaded at gbwater.org.
Watch: How to Identify private water service line material
If people have trouble identifying the material, they should call 920-785-7910, and if requested, Green Bay Water Utility can arrange to have a technician sent to the home to identify the material at no cost.
