Lead and Copper Rule Updates
Our mission at GRU is to ensure that your tap water always meets drinking water standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In recent years, the EPA has taken a closer look at the requirements for lead in drinking water and is making changes to its existing Lead and Copper Rule. With these changes, the EPA strives to protect communities — including schools and childcare facilities — from the risks of lead exposure by removing lead from our nation’s drinking water and empowering communities through information. GRU has always been in compliance with the Lead and Copper Rule.
Improvements under the new rule include:
- Using science-based testing protocols to identify more sources of lead in drinking water.
- Establishing a lower maximum contaminant level (MCL) for lead.
- Driving more and complete lead service line replacements.
- Requiring testing in schools and childcare facilities.
- Requiring water systems to identify and make public the locations of lead service lines.
As part of the rule revisions, utilities are required to create an inventory of service line materials by Oct. 16, 2024. This includes public service lines GRU installed and private service lines installed by the customer or their contractor. Utilities with one or more of the following service lines in their distribution system must submit a Lead Service Line Replacement Plan, also by Oct. 16, 2024:
- Lead
- Galvanized Requiring Replacement (GRR)
- Lead status, Unknown
What does this mean for me?
It will take some time for GRU to identify all of the service lines in our area. GRU keeps excellent records of the lines we installed; however, we do not have comprehensive records of the materials used on the customer side (from the meter to the home). GRU will work with our customers to identify and inventory piping materials on the customer side.
Service lines that are not yet identified will be marked as “Unknown” in the inventory. We are required to identify BOTH the public (GRU) and private (customer) sides of the lines. If either side remains unidentified, the whole line will be classified as Unknown.
Service Line Material Classification Based on Combined Service Line Materials
*SL = Service Line
*SL was never previously lead; water systems must demonstrate that the SL was not previously lead.
Unknown lines can be identified by visual or digital methods. Visual methods include physical excavation (digging a shallow hole to view the pipe) of the line to identify the material. Digital methods include desktop analyses and modeling and must be supported with field verifications. Further details on these methods are included in the EPA rule and Florida Department of Environmental Protection Guidance documents linked below.
When GRU conducts work on the water system, service lines made of lead, GRR, or Unknown will require special attention to ensure water quality requirements are met. As shown in the table below, this may include providing educational materials and/or water filters to the customer, plus testing. GRU will contact you directly if your area is impacted.
Disturbance Requirements – Lead, Galvanized, Unknown
*LSLR = Lead Service Line Replacement
*POU = Point of use
After the new rule (EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, LCRI) is promulgated, GRU compliance sampling will change. The LCRI requires compliance sampling using a tiered pool of targeted sampling sites based on the service line material inventory. The new rule also requires sampling of all primary schools, licensed childcare facilities and secondary schools, upon request. Detailed information on sampling requirements is available at the links below.
-
GRU will continue to follow the progress of the rule changes. Once the rule and Florida guidance documents are finalized, GRU will provide updated resources on this site.
-
GRU is in the process of inventorying our service lines. This will be an ongoing effort, and GRU will update the inventory as additional information becomes available. The inventory will be publicly available and accessible from this website after Oct. 16, 2024.
-
GRU will contact you if we need more information about your service line material. You may also use the service line inventory website to verify your pipe materials or provide updated information to GRU (after Oct. 16, 2024).
-
GRU will work with the school board and local childcare facilities for testing.
GRU’s History with the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR)
GRU’s water distribution system is in compliance with the existing Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), first published in 1991. On Jan. 15, 2021, the EPA published the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) in Subpart I of Title 40 Code of Federal Register Part 141 (40 CFR Part 141), which became effective on Dec. 16, 2021. The EPA published the LCRI in 2023 and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection released a guidance document for Service Line Material Inventories in January 2024.
More information on these rules is available at the following links: