WILKES-BARRE — Pennsylvania American Water on Tuesday announced door-to-door canvassing outreach in the Pittston area to assist nearly 2,000 customers in identifying the material of their home’s water service line.
“Customer involvement makes this work possible,” said Pennsylvania American Water Vice President of Operations Jim Runzer. “Our goal is to catalog the material type of customers’ service lines to help safeguard the quality of water for our customers.”
Runzer said a water service line is a pipe that connects a home or business to the water main in the street.
Runzer said Pennsylvania American Water owns a portion of the service line, typically from the main to the curb stop, found near the street curb or sidewalk. He said the property owner owns the rest of the service line (from the curb stop) all the way into the house or building being served, which is why customer participation in this program is important.
If a service line is identified as lead or galvanized steel, Pennsylvania American Water will work with the customer to replace the line at no direct cost to them, Runzer said.
In Pittston, approximately 1,950 customer-side water service line materials have not yet been identified, and in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, the materials of approximately 76,400 service lines have not been identified.
Runzer said outreach is also currently underway in Scranton and Carbondale. He said once complete, efforts will continue in other communities served by the company’s system in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.
The door‑to‑door outreach will be conducted by CDM Smith, Pennsylvania American Water’s service line inventory contractor. All representatives will carry official company photo I.D. badges and wear logoed, high-visibility vests.
Canvassing in these areas is expected to be completed in the fall.
The outreach efforts are part of the company’s lead service line replacement program, supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, which require all water utilities to identify and make public the materials that both company-owned and customer-owned service lines are made of to address and minimize exposure to lead in drinking water.
Since the lead service line identification project began, Runzer said more than 50,000 service lines have been identified statewide, and more than 3,400 customer-owned lead lines have been replaced.
Customers can view an interactive service line map at pennsylvaniaamwater.com/LeadFacts, self‑report their service line material online, or request assistance by calling 717‑581‑8599, emailing LeadFreePA@amwater.com or scheduling an appointment at calendly.com/LeadFreePA.
Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.
Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.