Lead and Copper Rule Revisions

Lead and Copper Rule Revisions Service Line Inventory Guidance

On August 4, 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory to support water systems with their efforts to develop inventories and to provide states with needed information for oversight and reporting to EPA. The guidance provides essential information to help water systems comply with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions requirement to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials by October 16, 2024. Specifically, EPA’s Lead Service Line Inventory guidance:

  • Provides best practices for inventory development and communicating information to the public.
  • Includes a template for water systems, states, and Tribes to use or adapt to create their own inventory.
  • Contains case studies on developing, reviewing, and communicating about inventories.
  • Highlights the importance of prioritizing inventory development in disadvantaged communities and where children live and play.

EPA is harmonizing regulatory requirements with unprecedented funding through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make rapid progress on removing harmful lead from America’s drinking water.   

Town of Fort Mill Testing

On Dec. 16, 2021, the EPA announced new regulations in eliminating Lead in Drinking Water. Through several revisions, the EPA has laid groundwork for Public Water Systems (PWS) to begin collecting an inventory on each water system's covered area. Under these regulations, the Town of Fort Mill is required to inventory the public service water line and main, as well as the private side (which is the area between the meter and a house) for each customer connection in areas that were built before the year 1988. In 1988, a lead ban was issued for materials used in household plumbing.  

In areas where the Town needs to sample, we will be required to view and document the service line type in the ground.  This will require Town crews to dig an area in some yards around the meter box on both sides of the box to determine the material of the water line. Affected homeowners will be notified a week in advance of the work. In an effort to limit the number of homes that need to be tested, the EPA and S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) will allow Town crews to use an average of homes in neighborhoods that were built by the same developer at a specific time.  As part of this process, you may notice Fort Mill employees around the area or in your yard collecting this information.  

During this process, the Town of Fort Mill Utilities Department will be working to limit the amount of area dug up on affected properties. In our efforts to control this, we are accepting help from the public. If an affected homeowner would like to assist the Town in developing an inventory of these water lines, US EPA has allowed us to use photos from homeowners to verify the service material type on the private side of the property. Homeowners can do this by conducting a “Scratch Test” or “Magnet Test” if it looks like it may be lead or metal. Click here to read instructions in our Checking Water Service Pipes for Lead document.

If you would like to complete one of these tests on your own, please: 1) complete the form below and 2) also email a photo of the area tested with your address and where the photo was taken to lead-copper-info@fortmillsc.gov. 

Notifications to Customers  

Results of the inventory were required to be submitted to the SC Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) by October 16, 2024. Service lines that had not yet been identified were classed as “Unknown” on the inventory pending identification. The Town of Fort Mill was required to send notification letters by November 15, 2024, to any customer whose service line was listed as “Unknown,” “Galvanized,” or “Lead” on the inventory. Town personnel are continuing their work to identify all “Unknown” service line materials. Receiving such a letter does not mean you have lead in your water service line; it just means that we have not yet identified the pipe material.  

If you received a letter informing you that your service line material is “Unknown” and you know what the service line material is between the water meter and the building, please complete the form below and also email documentation such as photos and/or a plumber’s invoice for replacing a service line to lead-copper-info@fortmillsc.gov. 

Town of Fort Mill Lead and Copper Inventory

  18. Please type your name below. This will act as your digital signature for the above document.
    22. Leave This Blank:

  24. This field is not part of the form submission.

Click here to view the current Lead Service Line Inventory Form.  The form will be updated on a regular basis as we work to identify Unknown service line materials in the system and as service lines are replaced. 

Click here to view a map of the Fort Mill Water Service Area where you can search for your address and view the legend that describes the service line material on the Public Water System (PWS) Side and on the Customer’s side of the meter. If the legend indicates the material is “Unknown,” we are still working to identify the material. The map will be updated on a regular basis.  

Resources for more information on the Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) Regulations, lead in drinking water, and your drinking water quality:

If you still have questions, please contact the Utilities Department at (803) 547-7158. You can also read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document here.