Lead & Drinking Water
Lead & Drinking Water
On July 22, 2021, the state of New Jersey enacted legislation that requires all water utilities in the state to identify all water service lines (the pipe that connects the water main to the building) within 10 years. The law also requires that all water service lines constructed of lead or galvanized steel must be replaced to the water meter in the building within 10 years, regardless of ownership of the drinking line.
A service line is a pipe that connects the water main in the street to the building. Ownership of the service line varies by water system. In Florham Park, the service line has shared ownership. The Borough owns the service line from the main to the curb stop. The property owner owns the service line from the curb stop to the house.
Lead used in the service lines as well as lead solder in indoor plumbing and lead in some older plumbing fixtures are the causes of lead in customers’ drinking water. The diagram below indicates where lead might be found in a service line. The water that enters the Florham Park Water Utility Distribution System leaves our wells with a non-detectable level of lead. The Florham Park Water Department samples and tests the water in the system in accordance with state and federal requirements. The test results have not exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) lead or copper action levels, per the Lead and Copper Rule. Detailed information regarding the Borough’s water system and its monitoring efforts on the New Jersey Drinking Water Watch portal.
Exposure to high levels of lead is a serious health risk. Lead builds up in the body over many years and can cause damage to the brain, red blood cells, and kidneys. The greatest risk is to young children, pregnant women, and unborn babies. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection maintains a Lead Exposure Reduction website that provides an overview of New Jersey’s efforts to reduce the presence of lead in drinking water.
The Department of Environmental Protection has developed a website specifically for consumers to get more information on this law and lead in drinking water. You can visit: www.nj.gov/dep/lead or https://www.nj.gov/dep/lead/docs/lead-public-faq.pdf for more information.
Lead Drinking Water Example Picture
Lead Service Line Identification Required at Sale of Property
The Borough of Florham Park passed Ordinance 23-22 which requires the identification of a service main prior to the sale of real property in the Borough of Florham Park. Please complete this form.
Forms should be submitted prior to closing to the Water Utility.
Lead Service Line Inventory Information
The Borough of Florham Park actively seeks to ensure that lead and copper are not found in our public community water system in detectable levels. As part of an effort to comply with the regulations and requirements of the Federal Lead and Copper Rule and P.L.2021, Ch. 183, the Borough of Florham Park has compiled this inventory of service line information. The inventory will be regularly updated as the Borough continues to investigate the composition of service lines throughout the Borough. Service lines in the Borough have two parts: the portion owned by the Borough of Florham Park from the main to the curb box, and the customer owned portion from the curb box to the water meter.
Inventory:
Table Format: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mEmMJbtXEtDenZgjXksJiJjspH8EcV52zP7FZGCZUbw/edit?usp=sharing
Map Format: Florham Park – Service Line Inventory (arcgis.com)
The Borough of Florham Park is committed to providing the community with safe, clean drinking water, while maintaining the highest standards of customer service.
As part of compliance with the New Jersey Title 58 lead service line replacement act, the Borough has developed the web mapping application above that allows the public to lookup the composition of a service line providing drinking water to an individual premise location.
Search for the address of interest in the search bar in the top left. Once you select the address the application will zoom to that location and display a popup that describes the composition of the service line for that premise. You can also click on an individual premise point to display the service line information for that location.
The information displayed is based on various data sources and represents the best available information and is continually being updated.
THE BOROUGH MAKES NO CLAIMS, NO REPRESENTATIONS, AND NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, CONCERNING THE VALIDITY (EXPRESS OR IMPLIED), THE RELIABILITY OR THE ACCURACY OF THE DATA AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MISUSE OR MISREPRESENTATION OF THE DATA.
Lead Service Line Replacement Program
The Water Department is continuously working to refine its inventory, including establishing a process for verifying the service line material for the service lines where our records indicate the material is “unknown.” In addition, a service line replacement program plan will be developed and submitted to the NJDEP. This plan will provide for the annual replacement of at least 10% of all known lead service lines in the Borough and include the cost and funding mechanisms for the replacement effort.
Reporting Information about Your Service Line
The Florham Park Water Utility is asking all customers to help complete the service line inventory. Please do your part in completing the inventory by submitting the information requested through this link: https://forms.gle/wC3xfZrpn1U7bkdV6.
Questions? Contact Suzanne Herold via email to sherold@fpboro.net.
