Older water pipes in Pearland will be inspected for lead to comply with new EPA standards

Field crews will inspect over 1,500 water service connections in Pearland to comply with updated Environmental Protection Agency regulations aimed at removing lead from pipes in public water systems.

What you need to know

Pearland City Council voted unanimously at its April 28 meeting amending a contract for the inspections that was originally awarded to Pearland-based LJA Engineering. The amendment will increase the project’s budget by $151,500 to a total of $770,500.

The project will support phase two of the city’s compliance efforts under the EPA’s 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, which aims to remove lead from the nation’s public drinking water.

The inspections will focus on older water lines installed before Jan. 1, 1989—before Texas enacted its lead ban in plumbing, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s website.

The inspections will identify pipe materials on both public and private sides of each meter, using a combination of visual checks, magnetic and scratch tests and, if necessary, digging to verify if the pipes have lead.

Looking ahead

The project is expected to be completed within six months of the awarding of the contract, according to agenda documents.