City mails water line surveys

MARENGO — Due to a mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency, Marengo residents will have to inform the city what type of water lines they have in their homes.

The city is sending postcards to each residence the first week of September. One side explains the reason for gathering the information and the other is survey asking if the home was built before 1988 or between 1989 and 2024, when the water service line was installed (if known) and whether the pipe material from the home to the water meter is lead, galvanized steel, copper or polyethylene.

“They just need to fill out the survey questions,” said City Administrator Karla Marck. Residents may drop of the postcards at Marengo City Hall or follow instructions to complete the surveys online.

Surveys should be returned to the city by Sept. 20.

“We’re really trying to get people to self-report,” said Marck. Having residents report the information will save the city money. “If they don’t, we are literally going to have to go house to house to house to house.”

The city had about 20% of the town verified as of Aug. 28, Marck told the city council during its regular meeting that day. Only 7% of those were self-reported. The others were reported by the public works department as it replaced water meters.

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The surveys must be 100% complete by Oct. 16, Marengo Public Works Director Lonnie Altenhofen said.

Williamsburg has already completed its survey and sent it to the EPA. The city sent out surveys with water bills about a year ago, said Williamsburg City Clerk Niki Osweiler.

Williamsburg city officials called residents who did not respond to requests for information and tried to walk them through the process over the phone, Osweiler said.

City employees had to physically visit the final residences. Williamsburg City Manager Aaron Sandersfeld told Marck that Williamsburg officials had to visit about 100 homes, Marck said.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources notified the cities in April of 2022 that the most recent EPA lead and copper rule revision required that all community water supplies and non-transient, non-community water supplies develop a lead service line inventory for the DNR by Oct. 16, 2024.

The inventory must include all service lines connected to the public water supply distribution system regardless of owner status and must include, at a minimum, whether lines are lead, galvanized requiring replacement, non-lead or unknown.

If a home was constructed after 1988 in Iowa, the service line should be constructed using material other than lead, the DNR said.

The inventory must be made available for public review.