San Antonio Water System

Water systems must develop an inventory to identify service line materials connected to the public water system. This includes both the SAWS-owned water lateral from the water main to the water meter as well as the customer-owned service line from the water meter to the building.

There are 4 categories of service line materials:

• Non-lead – copper, plastic-based, some iron-based.
• Lead – pipe containing lead material.
• Unknown – material is currently unknown.
• Galvanized requiring replacement or GRR –
  • Iron or steel pipe dipped in a zinc coating to prevent corrosion.
  • This coating can accumulate lead if there is a lead source upstream.
  • Galvanized pipe only requires replacing if it is on the customer-owned side of the service line and there was ever lead material on the SAWS-owned portion or if the original material is unknown.
  • Galvanize pipe not meeting these conditions is considered non-lead.

As part of LCRR, SAWS is required to notify customers every year who have Lead, Unknown or GRR material on their service line. As unknown materials are identified, the classification will change and may not require future notification. If the material is lead or GRR, then SAWS will provide a recommendation of future steps.

If you have received notification of an unknown service line and you would like to work with SAWS to determine the material, please sign up here.

About Service Line Inspections

There are two main ways SAWS verifies water service line materials to determine if hazardous lead may be present: