Certain residents in Jefferson may have received a letter in the mail recently about their water service line. 

Jefferson City Administrator Scott Peterson says following the initial inventory of water service lines, the next step was to send out notification letters to households that either had lead, galvanized in need of replacement, or unknown which could either mean the customer side or the city side of the service line was unknown. He acknowledges that while 400 letters that were sent to households, the language can be confusing as it was a boilerplate format that is required by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Peterson points out that only seven service lines were reported out of about 2,000 connections in town that were lead and that this initiative is to eliminate water service lines that contain lead which has been proven to be harmful especially to youth and the elderly. He emphasizes that as the city is going through this process with the Iowa DNR and the federal Environmental Protection Agency that the city’s water continues to be a priority for the public.

“The fact that the city of Jefferson still puts out very, very high quality water. The water is tested every single day and we know that the water that we put out there (is) safe, sanitary, always available for the public to use and drink without any concern and just feel really, really good about that.”

Peterson adds that for anyone who received a letter, no action is required at this time and the city will follow up on an annual basis to re-check the status of those lines which may need to be addressed in the future. He appreciates everyone who participated in helping with the water line inventory.