2022 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report

Lead And Copper

Lincoln’s drinking water does not contain detectable levels of lead and copper in its source water or after treatment. However, the presence of lead and copper used in plumbing systems can introduce detectable levels of these contaminants into the drinking water at individual homes or businesses. Water testing conducted by Lincoln Water System has found detectable levels of lead and copper in homes built before 1988. These homes are more likely to have pipes, fixtures, and solder that contain lead. In Nebraska, plumbing materials containing high concentrations of lead were banned in 1987. Homes built before 1950 may have a portion of the water service line constructed using lead pipes, and these homes may have higher levels of lead in their drinking water.

Safe drinking water properties vary across the country depending on the water source. Lincoln’s drinking water chemistry does not promote excessive lead and copper leaching from plumbing systems. As a result, Lincoln Water System remains in compliance with USEPA requirements for lead and copper.

Lincoln Water System is responsible for providing high quality drinking water, but cannot control the variety of materials used in household and business plumbing components. When the water in your pipes has been sitting for several hours, USEPA recommends minimizing the potential for lead exposure by flushing your cold water tap for 30 seconds to two minutes before using the cold water for drinking or cooking. Because private plumbing system construction varies, Lincoln Water System recommends flushing for at least five minutes in homes constructed prior to 1950. Consider filling a water pitcher for drinking water to avoid repeated flushing.

If you are concerned about lead in your water, you may wish to have your water tested. Lincoln Water System offers one free lead test kit per year per address. To request your free lead test kit, please call Lincoln Water System at 402-441-7571 option 2. Information on lead in drinking water, testing methods, and steps you can take to minimize exposure is also available from these sources:

• USEPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791.
• USEPA website at epa.gov/safewater/lead.
• Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy/Drinking Water Program at 402-471-1009.
• The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department at 402-441-8040.

EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions Better Protects Against Exposure to Lead from Plumbing Materials

In December 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the agency’s intent to develop a new proposed rule that will strengthen the existing regulatory framework, the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements. This announcement followed the EPA’s review of the revisions to the current Lead and Copper Rule that water systems must comply with starting in 2024. Included in these revisions are requirements for water systems to perform lead testing in schools and childcare facilities and to identify locations of lead service lines. Because lead service lines found in older homes and buildings can contribute significant amounts of lead to water, the revised rule re-focuses on sampling water from these locations. These revisions will help water systems better identify high levels of lead, expand consumer awareness, and improve risk communication. Lincoln Water System maintains records of water service lines, which are privately-owned. These are available for viewing on the city’s website. More information about accessing our tap records can be found in the section “Do I have a lead service line?” in this report.

Do I have a lead service line?

The water service line is the pipe that is owned by the property owner which connects their home to the public water main. Using existing records, LWS has identified approximately 4,000 privately owned water service lines that may contain lead. In some cases, records have limited or missing information that make it difficult to determine the exact material used in the installation of the service line.

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Customers should also be aware that lead-containing materials can be found in other locations of the home plumbing constructed before 2014 when lead-containing materials were banned from use.

Hire a Plumber

We recommend you use an experienced, certified plumber to assist in reviewing your service line record and in identifying lead-containing materials in your plumbing system, fittings, fixtures, or other potential sources of lead.

Access our records

You can view information on your water service line by accessing records online. Knowing this information can be helpful in determining the risk of your service line contributing to lead in your water.

Access our tap record interactive map at lincoln.ne.gov/WaterServiceLines. The database is searchable by address, owner, parcel number, or by clicking on a property on the map. If there are records associated with the selected address, they will appear under the heading “TAP Images”. Click on all the records labeled “Water” to see the images of our records. Please feel free to call Lincoln Water System at 402-441-7571 option 2 for help interpreting these records. It is important to look over all the records listed as many older service lines have been partially or fully replaced and will have additional records indicating this. If the supply line was replaced, you should see the words “old tap abandoned” and/or “replacement tap”. Please be aware these records may not be complete, may have missing information, or may not have been updated if the property owner had work performed and it was not reported to Lincoln Water System.

You can also call Lincoln Water System at 402-441-7571 option 2 for information about your service line.

Conserve

Reduce Outdoor Water Use

The last time Lincoln had mandatory water restrictions caused by drought conditions was during the summer of 2012. Since that time, the City has revised its Water Management Plan to simplify watering restrictions. One important change, if water restrictions are imposed, is placing all multi-family, commercial, industrial and governmental properties, street medians and single-family properties with a common irrigation system on a set schedule regardless of address. Designated watering days for these properties are on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Single-family properties and duplexes will be on the designated day schedule shown below based on even/odd numbered addresses if water restrictions are imposed.

Designated Day Outdoor Watering Schedule

Property Type	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Multi-family, commercial, industrial, governmental, institutional properties, street medians and single family properties (townhome developments) with a common irrigation system. All addresses.	Sunday •		Tuesday •			Friday
Single-family properties and duplexes with even-numbered addresses (ending in 0,2,4,6 or 8)	Sunday •			Wednesday •		Friday
Single-family properties and duplexes with odd-numbered addresses (ending in 1,3,5,7 or 9)			Tuesday •		Thursday •		Saturday

On warm summer days, several million gallons of treated drinking water are used to irrigate lawns in Lincoln. Customers are reminded that the designated three-day watering schedule is available to provide flexibility when watering. The schedule is not meant to suggest that lawns be watered all three days. Rather, property owners should consider using only minimal amounts of water to maintain landscapes, and restrict weekly watering to one or two days, if possible.

The Water Management Plan allows occasional outdoor watering at any time using an attended, handheld hose if water restrictions are imposed. This provides for watering of landscape materials, container plantings and bird baths without risk of ticketing during mandatory restrictions.

For additional information regarding the Water Management Plan and other helpful tips on water conservation, please visit water.lincoln.ne.gov.

Water Management Plan

Conservation Tips

Water 2.0: Securing Lincoln’s Second Source

The City of Lincoln and Lincoln Transportation and Utilities Lincoln Water System’s efforts to secure a second source of water for the Lincoln community continue to move forward. In February 2023, Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird accepted a recommendation made by the Mayor’s Water Source Advisory Council to develop a Missouri River wellfield, water treatment facility, and an underground pipeline to transport potable water to Lincoln.

The effort to secure a second water source to supplement the wellfields along the Platte River formally began in June 2022 when the mayor appointed the advisory council to evaluate the alternatives. The City hired a engineering firm to facilitate advisory council meetings and to do the necessary preliminary engineering work to validate the advisory council’s recommendation.

The estimated life-cycle cost of the project is $1.39 billion. The effort will be one of the largest and most complex in Lincoln’s history and is expected to take 15-20 years to complete. To help fund the effort to secure a second water source, the City is reviewing State and Federal funding opportunities. Lincoln Water System is also actively dedicating revenues to a fund specifically for this project.

Next steps for the engineering firm include conducting studies, testing, technical analysis, and preliminary design to validate this solution.

The advisory council process

The Mayor’s Water Source Advisory Council is made up of water experts, community and business leaders who spent nine months and nearly 40 hours of their time dedicated to finding a solution that fits our community’s needs. Seven factors helped guide their evaluation of 14 potential alternatives. Those factors include reliability, governance, life cycle cost, operations, implementation, environmental stewardship, and stakeholder impacts. The advisory council reviewed data and consulted engineering, water, law, economic, and environmental experts on how each alternative would impact the evaluation factors.

The advisory council narrowed the list to seven alternatives that were deemed feasible and able to provide sufficient water supply through at least the year 2075. Those alternatives included interconnecting with the Metropolitan Utilities District in Omaha, expanding the existing wellfield on the Platte River, and building an off-channel reservoir. The council also considered using surface water from the Missouri River and treating both surface or groundwater at a new treatment facility or pumping it to the existing facility in Ashland to be treated before it would travel to Lincoln.

Developing a wellfield and water treatment facility along the Missouri River with an underground pipeline to Lincoln was chosen as the best and most reliable solution to secure an additional water source for our community.

For more information, please visit lincoln.ne.gov/​SecondWaterSource