Lead and Copper Program

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Polk County Utilities staff have completed their investigations of all water service areas and NO lead solder or lead service lines were found. Polk County Utilities customers will be notified via a letter of the results for their service area.

Lead and Copper Rule Revision

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1986 which banned the use of lead and lead solder in plumbing. The rule has been modified over the years to further reduce exposure to lead in drinking water pipes. Recently, the EPA revised the Lead and Copper Rule to require that public utility providers nationwide take an inventory of the service line on the customer’s side of the meter and develop a lead service line replacement program. The ultimate goal is to eliminate all service lines with lead within 10 years.

To comply with the new rule, Polk County Utilities reviewed historic records to determine the materials of construction and developed a list of all customer service lines. The rule requires that if building documents do not specifically state what the line is made of (such as PVC or poly tubing), the utility must include it on the service line of Unknown Material List and that further investigation is required to determine what type of materials were used to construct the service line.

The use of lead in water piping was banned nationwide in 1986. Any home or service constructed after that date is not included on the Unknown Material List. The inventory produced by Polk County includes many of those homes built prior to that date.

If the building records did not specifically state the materials of construction, the customer received a Notice of Unknown Service Line Material.

Project Update

In 2024, Polk County Utilities began visiting neighborhoods to expose (dig up) the service line to determine if lead is present in the fitting or solder through a sampling process approved by the Department of Health. The process was completed in 2025. All Polk County Utilities services areas were checked and NO lead solder or lead service lines were found. Polk County Utilities will notify individual customers via letter that we have confirmed there is not lead in their service line and that their property has been removed from the list.

Polk County Water is High Quality

Polk County Utilities (PCU) provides clean, safe drinking water to our customers. We are responsible to ensure that the water we produce and deliver meets the requirements of the federal, state, and county regulatory agencies as well as the best management practices of the drinking water industry. We achieve this goal by continually monitoring and testing the water from its source, through the distribution system, to your tap. Part of ensuring that your water is safe and clean is the participation and compliance with new or changing water quality standards and system requirements.

Polk County Utilities’ source water and water supply facilities are lead-free. Our water distribution system was built after the Safe Drinking Water Act banned the use of lead and lead solder in plumbing in 1986 and no lead pipes have been found in our water distribution system. Test results from water sampling throughout the system have confirmed that Polk County Utilities’ water treatment processes are effective.

View Water Quality Reports

Have questions?

Reach out to the experts at Polk County Utilities at [email protected].

Why did I receive a letter regarding my service line?

The Environmental Protection Agency amended the Lead and Copper Rule to require water providers nationwide to inventory the service lines from the meter to the customer’s house to determine the materials of construction.

If the documentation for the construction of your home did not state what material the service line is made of, PCU is required to list is as unknown and notify you that your service line may potentially contain lead or lead solder.

Our next step is to investigate the service lines on the unknown materials list and determine if they have lead. If they do, PCU is developing a program to upgrade the line to either PVC or a poly tubing material.

PCU will develop a service line replacement program to upgrade any service lines that are discovered to contain lead or lead solder.

How do I know what the status of my service line is?

PCU will communicate with customers during its investigation of customer-owned service lines. As we determine the materials of construction of the service lines, we will notify individual customers that we have confirmed there is not lead in their service line and they have been removed from the list. If it is discovered that the service line contains lead, we will notify customers of their options to upgrade the line to current standards.

What is Polk County Utilities doing to keep my water free of lead?

Polk County Utilities is committed to providing safe and reliable drinking water for residents and guests in its service area. We have been testing for lead for years and consistently demonstrated that our water supplies are free of lead, copper and other contaminants.

Lead rarely occurs in groundwater, so the primary source of lead is from piping. Polk County gets our water from the Floridan aquifer which is naturally low in lead.

The aquifer is made of limestone, which adds calcium carbonate to the water – a natural buffer to prevent lead pipes from leaching.

Polk County’s water is non-aggressive. Aggressive water means that the pH is not neutral and that there are no buffering compounds, such as calcium carbonate. Polk County uses sodium hypochlorite for disinfection, which also raises pH, ensuring a non-aggressive water.

Even if you have lead in your home’s plumbing, it is unlikely to leach into the water due to the non-aggressive water and the buffering of calcium carbonate.

What if I have a private well?

Polk County Utilities’ inventory does not include properties receiving water from private wells. Lead rarely occurs in groundwater, so the primary source of lead is from piping. If you have concerns about a private well, please contact the Polk County Department of Health for information on how to test for lead or other contaminants.