The City of Pembroke Pines is committed to providing safe drinking water to all its customers by following all Federal and State regulations. The US EPA recently made changes to the Lead and Copper Rule with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) and will likely make further adjustments in the near future. To ensure public water systems are reducing lead exposure to their customers, the US EPA is requiring all community water systems to complete a water service line material inventory. The objective of the service line inventory is to determine if there are any lead pipes in the water distribution system on both the public and customer (private) portions.

The City of Pembroke Pines is proud to announce that the City’s Water Service Line Inventory has been completed.  All service lines in the City have been determined to be made of non-lead material.

What is a Water Service Line? 

In a water distribution system, a service line carries water from the water main (typically near or under the street) to your place of residence or business. The EPA classifies water service lines as any water line that is less than two (2”) inches in diameter. The City of Pembroke Pines owns and maintains the water service up to the meter, and the property owner owns and maintains the water service from the meter to the building.

Provided below is a diagram of a typical water service line with the public and private ownership side labeled. 

Does the City Test Our Water for Lead?

Hundreds of water samples are collected annually at the water source, during treatment and in the distribution system in order to determine the presence of any radioactive, biological, inorganic, volatile organic or synthetic organic contaminants. 

Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and interior plumbing. Lead and copper can leach into a water system from the piping or the fixtures (faucets). Homes built or plumbed with copper pipe before the 1985 lead solder ban may have used lead-based solder. 

The City is required to monitor for the presence of lead and copper at household taps every three years. Ongoing testing shows that the City of Pembroke Pines’ drinking water meets or exceeds all state and federal drinking water standards for lead and copper. For additional information on where our water comes from and testing results, view our Water Quality Report here. 

About the Service Line Inventory

To complete a major portion of the service line inventory, the City of Pembroke Pines reviewed available records of the city, and privately owned, portions of the water service line which included historical standards, as-built drawings, issued permits, capital project records, and past maintenance work orders. After a thorough records review on the information that was available, the City also conducted investigations on water services with limited information available. 

This investigation included:

• Using hand tools to dig two holes near the meter box to expose service lines; one on the utility side and one on the customer side.
• Tracking Information regarding the date of the inspection, and material and size for both the utility and customer owned service lines.
• Taking photos to document proof of service line materials for both the utility and customer owned service lines.

The crews worked mostly in the area of the water meter box and did not need access to your backyard or inside your home. 

The inventory includes ALL service lines regardless of their actual or intended use. Service line materials are required be identified in one of four categories: 

• Lead
• Galvanized steel requiring replacement
• Non-lead
• Unknown

Upon completion of the water service line inventory, the City of Pembroke Pines found no lead or galvanized service lines requiring replacement and is therefore a non-lead system.

Try the New Interactive Map Tool

The City of Pembroke Pines has created an interactive map which includes the known service line material information on the public and private side. Information shown in this map will be updated as new service lines are installed or as new information becomes available.

Click on the map below to review the City’s current inventory of water service lines throughout the community. Use this interactive map to search an address and see the results of the water service line inventory. If you have any questions about this inventory, please reach out to Customer Service at 954-518-9000.