All water suppliers in the nation are required to submit a service line material inventory.  The Topsfield Water Department began this process in early 2023 by digitizing our service records and building a service layer in our GIS (Geographical Information System).  The intitial inventory was submitted on October 14, 2024.  Documenting service line materials is part of a nationwide effort to identify lead service lines and get them replaced.  To the best of our knowledge, including asbuilt plans, service cards, contract documents and instututional knowledge, Topsfield does not have any known service lines containing lead.  Topsfield has historically required plastic or copper service lines but the materials used were not often called out on plans so there are a large number of service lines where the material can not be documented so it's listed as Unknown-May Contain Lead.

What is a service line?

A service line is a small diameter line, typically 3/4" or 1" in size, that connects your home/building to the water main in the street.  Many water systems allowed lead pipe to be installed for part or the whole line.  Our system has split ownership, the Town owns the pipe from the main to the property line and the property owner owns the pipe on private property.  Sometimes, particularly in areas served by wells or private water systems, the new line connecting the water system to the home was conected to a pre-existing pipe of unknown material.

What is next?

Now that the inventory is complete we need to notify customers on an annual basis that have a service with unknown materials.  The first round of notices is due to be sent by mid-November 2024.  Then work begins on identifying materials through field inspection, statistical sampling, and water testing.  The Town has 7 years to identify an unknown materials.