LEad Service Line Replacement

Lead Service Line Replacement Project

Historically, the City of Marion has never had a problem with lead in its drinking water. Marion Utilities’ treatment process is closely monitored in order to prevent undesirable piping materials from leaching into the city’s water system.

In response to federal mandates, all water utilities in Indiana are required to participate in a survey of their water distribution systems to determine how many lead service lines are currently being used, with an end goal of eventually removing/replacing ALL lead service lines. Marion Utilities has partnered with Abonmarche Consultants in order to complete this survey in a timely fashion. Over the next several weeks, their representatives (pictured below) will be knocking on doors and performing field verifications in select areas to gain the data we need. They may ask to take a photo of the water lines. More information can be found on our website or by scanning the QR code below — including ways to self-report your service line material and real-time updates on the data collection efforts.

As always, Marion Utilities is committed to providing clean, safe drinking water to its customers. If you have any questions or concerns, go to www.marionutilities.com or give us a call at 765-664-2391.

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Pictured above are the Abonmarche employees who are canvassing the city, verifying piping material. They may ask to take a photo of your water lines.

Self Reporting Your Service Line Materials

Help us gather the data we need to rid our city of lead! Here’s a link to the survey to self-report your materials.

How to Identify Your Service Line Material

(From the Lead Service Line Replacement Collaborative) Your water service line pipes may be exposed where the pipe enters the home through a basement wall or floor, at the water meter, or when discovered through excavating the dirt over the service line or where connected to the water main. ​Water lines are typically 12 inches below the depth soil freezes in the winter, meaning that service lines are often three and half feet or more underground. Lead is a dull gray color and very soft. If scraped with a key it will turn a bright silver color. Even a very strong magnet will not stick to lead. A good, strong magnet can help you identify your piping material.

There are four main types of piping materials:

Lead – a dull gray color, very soft (turns bright silver when scratched). Strong magnets will NOT cling to lead pipes.
Galvanized – a dull, silver/gray color. Magnets will typically stick to galvanized pipes. Galvanized lines can absorb lead and may need replaced.
Copper – the color of a copper penny
Plastic – Usually white, but can be various colors, rigid plastic piping

Marion Utilities is encouraging Marion residents to self-identify their piping materials through the survey above. You will need to upload a photo of your service line to take the survey. This will help us gather the data we need to meet federal mandates in a timely fashion, in addition to helping us move forward with plans to see that lead and/or galvanized pipes are replaced.

Limescale Buildup

Updates to the US EPA Lead and Copper Rule and issues in other cities have brought a lot of attention to the subject of lead in drinking water recently. Historically, the City of Marion has never had a problem with lead.

While the City of Marion does have lead service lines, here at Marion Utilities (and hundreds of other water utilities across the Midwest) our operators carefully control what we call our “water chemistry” to maintain a thick lime scale that coats the inside of our pipes, preventing lead from contaminating our drinking water. Our treatment process is closely monitored in order to stop any undesirable piping materials from leaching into our water system.

Here are examples of different pipes with limescale buildup similar to what is found in Marion, which prevents contaminates from leaching into our drinking water.

Federal mandates have required all water utilities in Indiana to determine how many lead service lines are currently being used, with an end goal of eventually removing/replacing ALL lead service lines.