Water Service Line Inspections

Inspections

Over the next several months, we will randomly inspect about 400 customer and utility-owned water service lines. Prior to conducting any of these inspections, we will notify the property owner through a mailed postcard and a doorhanger. Field crews will also knock on the door to attempt to make contact with the property owner prior to conducting the inspection.  For most service lines inventoried, there will be one point of inspection on the utility owned side, and another on the customer owned side of the water meter. 

Utility Water Lines 

We may verify the pipe material on the utility side by digging a small hole on the street side of your water meter. This is typically in the City right-of-way near the water meter serving your property. This area contains roads, sidewalks, and above and below-ground utilities, including water system lines and your water meter. After inspection, we will restore the area as near as possible to the original condition. You do not need to be home for this part of the inspection to occur. 

In some cases, Tacoma Water already knows the material of the utility-owned service line, so we may not need to inspect that side of the meter. 

Customer Water Lines 

Depending on the service line location, we can verify the pipe material on the customer side in two ways:   

1. Dig a small hole on the property side of your meter, which may be in your yard. We will contact you to obtain written permission to work on private property. 

1. Visually inspect the pipe where it enters your home (if accessible). 

We will contact you to obtain written permission to work on private property, or to enter your home. The inspection will generally take less than an hour. If you are home, crews will attempt to notify you of the results at that time. You will receive the official results by mail or email within several business days. Review the legal document requiring permission here. 

FAQs

I received notice that Tacoma Water will be looking at my water service line. Should I be concerned?  

Your water is safe to drink. Your address was chosen randomly for inspection, as part of an EPA requirement to verify that no service lines contain lead. Tacoma Water has no known lead lines but we must inspect a subset of service lines to confirm this and to meet the EPA requirement.    

Why is Tacoma Water digging a hole near my yard?  

To comply with the EPA’s requirement to inventory water service lines to verify that none are made of lead, Tacoma Water must physically inspect a specific number of service lines. Crews will dig a 1-foot square hole in the front of your property; typically in the City right-of-way near the water meter serving your property. The City right-of-way is the area that contains roads, sidewalks, and above and below-ground utilities, such as power lines, fire hydrants, drainage ditches, sewer and water lines and your water meter. Once the service line is exposed, the crew will inspect it to confirm what material it is made of. We will make every effort to minimize the impact of our activities on your property and will ensure that the property will be left in good condition. We appreciate your support of this required project.   

What is a water service line?  

Utility-owned service lines, shown below in blue, are the pipes that connect to the larger water main pipes, usually near the street, that bring water to your home or business. These are the service lines we own and maintain.  

You own and maintain the property-side service lines and plumbing, shown in orange.

 

How were the service line locations selected? 

Service line locations were selected for inspection using a statistical method prescribed by EPA and the Washington State Department of Health. Tacoma Water knows the materials of the majority of our utility-owned service lines and many of the customer-owned service lines. Any service lines for which we did not have records of the material on one or both sides became part of the sample pool. Service lines installed after 1986 (year of the federal lead ban) or larger than 2 inches (lead lines were typically smaller) were removed from the sample pool. The service line locations for inspection were randomly selected from the remaining sample pool. 

I received a notice that Tacoma Water will be looking at my water service line, but you never inspected it. Why not? 

There are various reasons that Tacoma Water may not have inspected your service line even though you received a postcard. In some cases, the crew may have skipped the service line because it was not easily accessible for inspection. In other cases, the line may have been located on private property and they could not reach you to obtain permission to dig. Finally, Tacoma Water may have completed the required number of random inspections and did not need to perform additional ones. 

You may contact us if you have questions about the status of the inspection of your service line. 

When will Tacoma Water perform the inspection? 

We are attempting to perform all inspections before October 2024 to meet the EPA requirement. We will send you a postcard in advance of the inspection and put a notice on your door a few days before it is scheduled. The day of the inspection, the Tacoma Water crew will knock on your door to let you know they are starting the work. 

What if I don’t want you to inspect my service line? 

Although we hope that you will allow this required work to take place, if you do not want the inspection to take place on your private property, we can remove your service line from our inspection list. Please contact us at the phone number or email below and let us know.