PC: Fox 11 Online
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — City officials need your help to identify water pipes in use that could pose a public health risk.
Per mandates from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin DNR, the City of Oshkosh Department of Public Works must complete an inventory of all water service lines within the city by mid-October. These are the pipes, typically located underneath a street, that connect homes to the public water main or distribution system.
“We’re trying to identify which ones are a health hazard, or contain lead. So, we’re looking primarily for lead pipes or galvanized pipes that were ever down stream of lead,” said Steve Gohde, who serves as Oshkosh’s assistant director of public works and utilities general manager.
We’ve been working on this program since 2017. We still have a large, large number of unknowns — an excess of 6,000 unknown service line materials right now. We’re pushing to try to get as many of those identified as we can.
Gohde said if lead is identified, that doesn’t mean the homeowner has to take any action at this point. The city just needs to know what the service line materials are in order to compile their database.
“It’s really important that we can get in and try to identify as many of these service materials we can and get them off that unknown status,” Gohde said.
Homeowners are asked to set up an appointment for a water utility technician to come to their house for an inspection of the water service pipe entering the home. It only takes about 15 minutes and is free of charge.
To schedule your appointment, click here.
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