The Oklahoma City Utilities Department is making strides to fully comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Revised Lead and Copper Rule, as they announced the mailing of annual notification letters regarding the status of customers' water service lines. As per the regulations, which came into effect in 2024, the EPA mandates all public water systems to annually notify customers with service lines made of lead, galvanized steel requiring replacement, or those that remain unverified.
These notice letters, which are legally required to be sent out by tomorrow, December 31 each year, aim to gradually but definitively ease the minds of residents about their water quality. The customers who are scheduled to receive notices should start to watch their mailboxes around the beginning of the next year. Still, the majority, approximately 90% of Oklahoma City Utilities customers, with verified non-lead lines won't be seeing such letters. In a clear commitment to transparency, the City has been proactive in investigations with contractors completing around 7,200 service line checks across Oklahoma City, in an effort to update previously unverified service line material types.
Some residents who previously received notice of unverified lines may now be informed of newly verified service line materials. The City of Oklahoma City - Government, in a social media post, insists that customers can check the real-time status of their service lines anytime via the City's Lead-Safe Community Database.
The future plan to replace lines identified as lead is still in the works and must be published by the end of 2027 to meet EPA deadlines. At present, no federal or state funds are earmarked to aid customers in replacing private lines, but the City has pledged to communicate any changes in this regard. Detailed information on identifying service line materials, lowering potential lead exposure, and the overarching Lead-Safe OKC program can be readily found on the City’s website.
To contextualize, despite these notices and replacement strategies, Oklahoma City does not have lead in its main water supply. The treated water delivered from the city's two treatment plants is lead-free, and lead presence is usually from contact with affected lines. With the use of corrosion inhibitors, city water quality staff help to further diminish the risk of lead leaching into water supplies from older pipes—ensuring the water remains safe for all its residents.
