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PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg Utility Board recently submitted an inventory of utility and customer water lines to identify which may contain lead, but further information is needed.

Notices were mailed out Wednesday to 14 customers who either have or are directly connected to a lead service line and about 100 who have or are directly connected to galvanized steel lines.

The utility is working to send out notices with monthly bills to customers who have or are directly connected to more than 14,000 lines whose composition is not known at this time, PUB Manager Eric Bennett said.

“By this (federal) rule, if it’s unknown, they consider it to be lead,” he said.

If people don’t want to wait to receive the notice, they can check the lead line inventory online at www.pubwv.com.

“Most people should not be concerned, in all honesty,” Bennett said. “We’ve been required to do lead sampling for a couple decades now at least (and) have never had a hit” of lead above the action level in drinking water.

The list was compiled by reviewing existing records, he said. The utility was required by federal law to submit the inventory to the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health. They have three years to develop a plan for addressing lead service lines, but they have to know how many they’re dealing with first, Bennett said.

“We’re requesting the customer to provide us with information, and we will also continue to scour records,” he said. “If anybody has concerns, contact us. We can make arrangements to do some sampling.”

It has long been the utility’s practice to replace any lead lines they encounter while doing repairs, Bennett said. They also use chemical corrosion control “which coats those lines and does not allow the particles to get out in the system,” he said.

During a PUB meeting last week, board member Paul Hoblitzell asked when the city’s utilities stopped using lead pipes. Bennett said it was 1911, based on ordinances, but that doesn’t mean builders always complied.

Galvanized steel lines are of concern if they are downstream of a lead line, Bennett said. When they rust inside, it creates space where lead particles could accumulate, he said.

At this time, replacement of customer lines are the customer’s responsibility, Bennett said. Information about a city program to assist income-eligible residents with that is included with the notices being sent out. Additional decisions about funding will be made after the inventory is completed, Bennett said.

He’s optimistic the process will take less than the allowed three years.

“We should have that inventory nailed down pretty good to where we should know exactly what we have to replace,” Bennett said.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com