West Virginia American Water Wants To Know If Your Homes Pipes Have Lead

The company is asking customers to check their home’s water piping system for lead. Their website has information that customers can use to identify lead, which is a neurotoxin. Then customers are asked to log that information into an interactive map.

Megan Hannah, spokesperson for West Virginia American Water, said in the second phase of this initiative, the company plans to use that information to replace home owners’ pipes that contain lead. 

“If your home was determined to have a lead service line on your side of the meter,then we will replace that lead service line at no direct cost to you as the customer,” Hannah said. 

Hannah said that homes built prior to 1980 have an increased chance of having lead contamination. Starting in 2025 West Virginia American Water plans to send households with contamination a water pitcher with a filter that users can fill with tap water while waiting for their pipes to be replaced. 

West Virginia American Water has released the map in compliance with a nationwide EPA mandate which requires water utilities to identify lead piping systems and replace them. 

“It’s just the right thing to do,” Hannah said.  “It’s the right thing to do, that if we are identifying that material, we’re going to replace it regardless of whether it is company owned or customer owned”

Customers who cannot reach the online page can call 1-800-685-8660.