If you recently received a letter from the town of Smithfield stating the pipe connecting your home to the town’s water main is made from an “unknown material but may be lead,” you aren’t alone.

According to Community Development and Planning Director Tammie Clary,  the town mailed identically worded letters on Nov. 14 to 1,422 households, accounting for nearly half of Smithfield’s more than 3,000 water customers.

A 2021 revision to the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s circa-1991 lead and copper rule requires municipalities nationwide complete an inventory of lead pipes by Oct. 16 and send notice to any affected residents within 30 days of completing the inventory. The rule requires municipalities to report annually to their respective states, starting July 1 of next year, that the municipality has provided notice to affected customers with lead, galvanized or unknown pipes.

Smithfield’s water originates from municipal wells and passes through a town-owned reverse osmosis treatment plant but even treated water can accumulate lead if it passes through lead-based pipes on its way to homes. Smithfield, in 2021, replaced a 4-inch water main on Grace Street, which was believed to date to the early 1900s, with 8-inch pipes capable of meeting modern flow requirements for fire hydrants.

Town Manager Michael Stallings said the town’s inventory this year didn’t identify any town-owned lead pipes, though he acknowledged there may be some privately owned connections to the town’s water main that use lead, particularly in the Historic District, where there’s a greater concentration of older homes.

The federal Safe Drinking Water Act lead ban, which Congress passed in 1986, requires drinking water pipes contain no more than 8% lead, and that solder and flux used in the installation or repair of any water system for human consumption contain no more than 0.2% lead. According to the EPA, lead exposure can cause reduced IQ and learning disabilities in children, premature births and miscarriages, and increased blood pressure.

Clary said the town’s inventory included a search of site and subdivision plans and public works staff completing a visual inspection of water mains, meters and service lines. Service lines are privately owned and connect the public water mains to individual homes.

“We have our drawings and inspections from the main to the meter but it’s the property owner from the service line and into that structure,” Clary said.

The letter “is not saying that you do have lead,” Clary said. “It’s saying that we don’t know what your service line consists of.”

Included in the letters sent to affected homeowners is a new email address, water@smithfieldva.gov. The town is asking residents who can identify the material used in their service lines to provide that information to the town via that email address so the town can update the data it sends to the state. Self-reports by water customers will be noted as “not field verified” in the data the town sends to the state annually.