El Paso Water investigating lead pipes citywide

EL PASO, TX (KVIA) -- El Paso Water is starting to investigate lead pipes in and around El Paso homes.

EP Water and other utilities across the nation, including in Las Cruces, are responding to EPA regulations to identify and remove lead pipes from water systems.

Their crews are inspecting service lines across the city that were installed before 1988, when the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality restricted lead pipelines.

EPWater sent out a letter to houses and businesses if the material of their service line is not known. They will cover the cost of replacing the service line from the main water line into the house if it does qualify.

In the letter, they have this statement for the health effects of lead:

"Exposure to lead in drinking water can cause serious health effects in all age groups. Infants and children can have decreases in IQ and attention span. Lead exposure can lead to new learning and behavior problems or worsen existing learning and behavior problems... Adults can have increased risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, and kidney, or nervous system problems."

ABC-7 spoke with EPWater about their investigation. They said that they have not found any lead pipes yet, and have not found them in years.

"We have a team that's verifying about 140,000 properties right now to, to verify what the service line material is. And then another 70,000 properties we had already had records for. And through that we have not found any lead lines so far," said Christina Montoya-Halter, the communications and marketing manager for EPWater.

EPWater also said that there is no concern about lead in the drinking water that is coming from their plant. Their investigation is simply for service lines in the city, not directly from the plant.

"We want to remind our customers that there is no lead in drinking water when it leaves our plants. The contamination that could occur is through the service line connection or in their house. Over the many years that I've been here at EP Water, even before I was here. We haven't had any any issues with that."

EPWater has a hotline to call for any lead related questions or issues, 915-263-4280. For any other questions or concerns, they have additional information on their website as well.