NEWS RELEASE
City of Cape Girardeau Inspecting Water Lines
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The City of Cape Girardeau is randomly selecting homes to verify service line materials as part of a federally mandated water system assessment designed to identify and address potential lead and copper in community water systems across the nation.
“Cape Girardeau removed the last of any known lead water mains in the public system a long time ago,” said Water System Manager JJ Ridings. “So we’re working to verify and expand our records, but also bring attention to residents if we find that their private water lines pose any health concerns.”
Lead can be harmful to human health even at low exposure levels, and it cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled in drinking water. The most common sources of lead in drinking water are inside the home or the private line servicing the home including lead pipes, faucets, and plumbing fixtures.
RESOURCE: Protect Your Tap: A Quick Check for Lead
In performing the lead service line inventory, the city will need to know the material composition of both the city-owned and private, customer-owned portions of the service line.
Residents can help in this identification process by reporting the material used on their portion of the service line connected to the home. A short survey is available at www.cityofcape.org/water. “The lead service line inventory is a huge undertaking for our water system and community help is greatly appreciated,” said Ridings.
Under the revised Lead and Copper Rule implemented nationwide, all water systems in the United States were required to submit an initial inventory of their water mains and service line materials by October 2024. This federal requirement aims to identify the presence of lead and copper throughout municipal water systems to protect public health.
As part of the multi-year compliance process, entities must divide their water system inventories into three time-based categories: infrastructure installed from 2014-present, 1989-2013, and before 1989. The cities then randomly select 10% of addresses from each category for physical inspection through a process called "pot-holing," which involves visual inspection of piping materials on both sides of water meters – the public service line, and the privately owned side.
For Cape Girardeau, the 10% sampling requirement encompasses approximately 1,820 addresses citywide. The city secured a $197,500 grant to help fund the project, combined with previously allocated city funds. With the available funding, Cape Girardeau contracted with the lowest bidder to complete pot-holing inspections at 595 of the required 1,820 addresses during the current year. Work is currently underway at selected locations throughout the city.
"We're committed to ensuring the safety and quality of our water system," said Ridings. "With recent voter approval, we’re ready to be far more proactive in our system updates, and will continue to meet or exceed all federal requirements.”
The inspection process will continue through 2027, with annual updates required to be submitted to federal authorities. If the city's initial records prove to be 90% accurate across all three infrastructure categories, no additional pot-holing will be required. However, if any category falls below 90% accuracy, the remaining 90% of addresses in that category must be physically inspected.
The City of Cape Girardeau publishes a Water Quality report at cityofcape.org/water and has routinely shown all regulated substances to occur within acceptable levels. For more information about Cape Girardeau's water quality, related projects, and for help reporting service line material, contact us at [email protected] or (573)339-6357.