The St. Louis region’s largest water utility is asking customers to help inventory thousands of service lines made of unknown materials, in an effort to rid its system of potentially dangerous lead pipes.
Missouri American Water Co. has sent emails or letters to approximately 200,000 residential customers in St. Louis County and St. Charles County, offering help in identifying lead or galvanized pipes at their homes and offering to replace them, with no direct charge to property owners.
“Help us turn those unknowns into knowns,” said Christopher Parrish, an engineering manager for Missouri American, who oversees its replacement of lead service lines — and the hunt for where they are.
The letters stoking the crowdsourced mapping campaign are new this year, although the company has already spent the better part of a decade replacing lead lines that run between water mains and individual homes.
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The move joins similar, ongoing surveys from other water utilities, including the City of St. Louis’ Water Division.
Parrish emphasized that water from the Missouri American is safe to drink, and that it is treated with safeguards including a “corrosion inhibitor,” intended for lead pipes. (Galvanized pipes also tend to coincide with the presence of lead, he said.)
