Your pipes / Service line status
Is your service line in the lead inventory?
of inventory confirmed non-lead at April 30, 2025
The WSSC Water lead service line inventory showed 97.3% confirmed non-lead at April 30, 2025, with 11,512 service lines unknown on one or both sides at that date.
By the Your Water Numbers desk, not WSSC Water · Updated · How we check
Look up your number: what your status means
| Status | Annual letter | What happens next | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confirmed non-lead | Not in the letter group | Nothing on the line | Taps inside can still matter |
| Unknown, one or both sides | Yes, until confirmed | Use the pipe-verify page | 11,512 at April 30, 2025 |
| Galvanized (GRR) | Yes, until confirmed | Ask about funding | Aid was still being finalized |
| Verified lead | Yes, yearly letter | Plumber plus notice to WSSC Water | WSSC Water recommends replacing; utility side goes too |
Source: WSSC Water annual notifications and pipe type FAQ · Nov 2025 notice
Reading this: Your status is about one pipe, the service line. It does not test what comes out of your tap, so read it with lead in tap water.
What did the inventory show, and when?
Two snapshots exist, and they are dated differently. We show them apart rather than blend them.
- April 30, 2025: 97.3% of inventory confirmed non-lead, 11,512 service lines unknown on one or both sides, and no lead line found through field verification to that date.
- November 2025 notice page: about 6,000 unknowns reclassified non-lead, no lead lines in the survey, one lead connector identified, and one lead service line found by a plumber on a routine call.
That one lead line came from an ordinary service visit. That is why an unknown stays an unknown until someone confirms it. A county breakdown? We could not find one.
Remainder, our arithmetic
Source: WSSC Water pipe type dashboard · April 30, 2025
Why might you get a letter?
Because your line is listed as lead, GRR or unknown. Letters go to those three groups each year until the status is confirmed.
A letter is not a finding of lead. Unknown lines get one too, and only verification settles it. Start at the pipe type overview and the verification page.
What happens if a line is verified lead?
The utility recommends replacement and asks for notice before an owner replaces their side. The reason is federal: EPA requires the utility side to be replaced too.
Leave the pipe alone until then. Do not cut, dig out or disturb a service line yourself. EPA notes that construction can disturb lead, and a licensed plumber does your side of the job. The split is on who owns which pipe.
When does replacement have to be finished?
2037 is the date the utility is planning to. It comes from EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, which call for lead pipes to be replaced within 10 years.
Priorities are schools, daycares, homes with children or pregnant women and disadvantaged communities. Funding help for galvanized lines was described as being finalized when that letter went out. We could not confirm its status, so ask.
How does this fit with lead at the tap?
Separately. The latest required round, June to September 2023, had a 90th percentile below 0.002 mg/L (2 ppb) against an action level of 15 ppb, with 0 of 69 sites over.
Those are sampled sites, not your kitchen. EPA says there is no known safe level in a child’s blood, and homes built before 1986 can have lead solder. Brass and chrome faucets can matter too. WSSC Water’s report describes plant water as free of lead, and known lead pipes in the distribution system were removed in the early 2000s. Your own plumbing is the open question.
What can you do while the status is open?
Follow EPA’s steps. Use cold water only for drinking, cooking and formula. Flush before drinking, and ask the utility how long. Clean aerators.
Boiling does not remove lead. If you buy a filter, get one certified to NSF/ANSI 53 for lead.
What to do with your status
- Check for a letter, and keep it
- If unknown, go through the verification page
- If verified lead, tell WSSC Water before any replacement starts
- If verified lead: book a licensed plumber for your side and leave the pipe undisturbed until then
- Ask the utility about a tap test
Questions on this page
Is a 97.3% figure the same as my home being free of lead?
No. It describes service lines across the inventory at one date. Solder and faucets inside a home are a separate question.
Why did the utility find a lead line after saying none had been found?
The dates differ. No lead line had turned up through field verification by April 30, 2025; the November 2025 page reports one found by a plumber on a routine call.
Can I replace only my side of a lead line?
Ask first. The utility wants notice before you replace your side because EPA requires the utility side to be replaced too.
Does the inventory break down by county?
We did not find a Montgomery or Prince George’s split. The dashboard is the place to check for updates.
Where each number comes from
| Figure | What it is | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97.3%; 11,512 | Inventory confirmed non-lead; unknown lines | WSSC Water pipe type dashboard | April 30, 2025 |
| About 6,000; one connector; one line | Reclassified unknowns; lead finds | WSSC Water notices | Nov 2025 |
| 2037 | Planned replacement date | WSSC Water pipe type FAQ | via search index, Nov. 2026 |
| 10 years | Replacement window | EPA Lead and Copper Rule Improvements | read Nov 2026 |
| Below 0.002 mg/L; 15 ppb; 0 of 69 | Tap lead, latest required round | WSSC Water 2025 Water Quality Report | June to Sept 2023 |
| 1986 | Older homes; EPA tap steps | EPA basic information on lead | read Nov 2026 |
| 2.7% | Remainder of the inventory | Our arithmetic from the inventory figure | April 2025 |