Cookeville Asking You To Take A Look At Pipes

City of Cookeville asking for your help in surveying the type of water line in your home.

The EPA-mandated survey includes homes constructed prior to July, 1988. At question, whether your pipes are lead, copper, plastic, or galvanized. Water and Sewer Department Director Barry Turner said lead is at the heart of the government’s concern.

“Well, there’s the health concerns that you and most people are aware of on learning disabilities and such caused by lead, which they went with a no lead requirement back in about 1986, I think it was,” Turner said. “So everything built since ’86 or ’88 for sure doesn’t have lead pipe. And like I say, we don’t. The city of Cookeville never used lead service lines.”

Turner said lead piping never became as popular in this area as it did in a lot of northern communities and bigger cities. The EPA mandated the new inventory following water quality issues in Flint, Michigan over the last decade.

To complete the survey, Turner said check under your house to see if you can see the pipes.

“Main materials are plastic, which a lot of people can identify that they have,” Turner said. “The other is copper. Most people are familiar with that. You know, it’s color of a penny. Galvanized was a popular material years ago too, that a lot of people are familiar with. It’s sort of a hard iron and in lead is sort of gray in color, but it, but if you scratch it, it’s, it’s real shiny.”

If you cannot see the pipes, simply mark it unknown. Turner said the city can further investigate if needed later. You can call the Department of Water Quality Control with questions at (931) 520-5227.

“We’re trying to get the word out,” Turner said. “We’re putting it on our webpage, you know, to let people know. We’re putting a little note on the utility bill, and we’re also putting a note on the consumer confidence report, which we’ll go out with the utility bill. So we’re trying to get things going.”