Lead and Copper Municipal Water Testing

EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Revisions

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plays a vital role in safeguarding the quality of our drinking water. As part of their commitment to ensuring the health and safety of all Americans, the EPA periodically reviews and revises regulations related to water quality standards. One such critical regulation is the Lead and Copper Rule.

What is the Lead and Copper Rule?

The Lead and Copper Rule, established by the EPA, is designed to protect public health by reducing lead levels in drinking water. The rule sets specific guidelines for testing, treatment, and control of this contaminant in water systems to mitigate potential health risks associated with lead exposure. This rule was revised in 2021 and closed loopholes that historically allowed lead plumbing to stay in place. Now, the rule requires service lines to be tested for lead and replaced upon excessiveness of 15 parts per billion in 10% of samples.

City of Laramie's Commitment to Safe Drinking Water

In Laramie, the City is dedicated to ensuring clean and safe drinking water for its residents. The EPA's Lead and Copper Rule revisions align with the City's ongoing commitment to maintaining high water quality standards. As part of this commitment, the City has been proactively testing every residence's water lines. Under the guidelines provided by the EPA in the Lead and Copper Rule, the City must test all residential water service lines; once where the water main meets the residential line, and again at the water meter of the resident.

Lead-Free Water in Laramie

We are pleased to report that after rigorous testing of water lines in our community, the City of Laramie has found no instances of lead contamination in our drinking water. This outcome reflects the dedicated efforts of our Lead and Copper mandate material identification team, who have been tasting water lines for over a year as of October 2023, and will continue to do so until every residential water line has been checked. As of October 2023, over 2/3s of all residential water lines have been checked in Laramie. The only remaining lines that still need to be checked are lines with water meters inside the home.

How You Can Help

While the identification team has done a fantastic job of covering so much of Laramie in a relatively short time, the team has now reached a point where they are primarily inspecting homes with water meters inside. Unfortunately, the team is not always able to access a meter if no one is home to answer the door. In these cases, the inspector will leave a door hanger on the door notifying the resident of the reason for requested entry and the contact information of the Utilities Department to schedule an appointment for the inspector's return. If there is no word from the resident after three days, a second attempt at inspection will commence, and if there is no response at the door again, a second door hanger will be left with the same information on it. If after 3 days of the second door hanger being left, there is still no contact from the resident, the residence will be eligible for the water utility to be shut off to get the resident's attention. 

If you notice a door hanger on your door, please contact our inspection team at 307-721-5312, servicelineinspection@cityoflaramie.org. Please do not attempt to preemptively schedule an appointment with our team, as they have a schedule and route they are following for conducting inspections. 

Help us keep the drinking water in Laramie safe.