Lead pipe letters: We explain what they are and who got them
Not all Saratoga Springs residents got them. Find out why.
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Some Saratoga Springs landowners have gotten letters from the Department of Public Works about lead pipes and water service lines to their homes or buildings. A couple people have mentioned the letters to the Dispatch and Bahram “B.K.” Keramati called the letters “cryptic” during the public comment period at the Saratoga Springs City Council meeting Tuesday July 15.
DPW tells the Dispatch that the letters are all part of a larger “service line inventory” project initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and administered through the New York State Department of Health. Every municipality in the state has gone — or is going — through the service line inventory.
First, the city’s water does not have lead in it, said Mike Veitch, the DPW business manager.
“We test our source water from the main. There's no lead in it, no contamination. We treat the water to limit lead leaching” from older pipes, he said.
The “service line inventory” project was not exactly concerned with the city’s water system. It was concerned with each pipe that comes off the city’s water main and carries water to the individual house or building.
That pipe is the “lateral service line.”
Under the direction of the EPA and state health department, the city completed an inventory of all those lateral service lines by October 2024. The object was to learn which material each of those pipes was made of.
Now that the inventory is completed, the city has sent letters as “the first yearly notification” to some landowners. The letters only went landowners if the city learned that lateral service line is made of lead or is galvanized (which sometimes contains lead). Or the city sent the letter if they did not know what the pipe was made of.
Landowners whose houses or buildings do not have pipes of lead, galvanization or unknown materials did not get letters.
“So that's what the letter that went out was — sharing information,” Veitch said.
Although the bottom of the letter explains that it is the responsibility of the landowner to maintain or replace the lateral service line, and it explains the health hazards of lead, the letter does not say that a landowner should or must have their line changed if it is made of lead or if it is galvanized.
Keramati highlighted the confusion during the public comment time at the city council meeting.
“So people are talking about it and they're wondering, what is this? Why have some people gotten it? Why haven't you gotten it? What does this mean? I'm an engineer, so my friends call me and say, ‘Hey, what do I do about this?’” he said, adding that he was not sure. He will face DPW Commissioner Charles “Chuck” Marshall in November to become the DPW commissioner,
Commissioner Marshall agrees that the intent of letter is just informational, but added that the city cannot take a stand on replacement since it is the homeowner’s responsibility.
“I can’t force the homeowner to change their service line,” he told the Dispatch. It’s the requirement of the city just to tell people that they have a pipe that could cause health problems, or that the city does not know what that particular pipe is made of.
Residents with the lead pipe, the galvanized pipe or the unknown pipe received letters. Each letter was slightly different than the others to highlight the health risk and possible remediation.
The presence of lead or galvanized pipes is nothing new. Pipes replaced in the last three or more decades would not be made of lead because of laws restricting lead use. However, if the service line pipe to the house has never been changed, then the pipe is made of whatever material was used when the pipe was initially installed, and that could be lead.
If you have questions concerning any of the information, DPW asks that you contact them at the Utilities Office: 518-587-3550 ext. 2500 or utilities@saratoga-springs.org.