Got a Dallas Water Utilities Letter About Your Service Line?

Why DWU is sending these letters

The federal Lead and Copper Rule requires water utilities to keep a public inventory of their service lines, recording the material on both the public and private sides. DWU submitted its initial inventory to the state by the October 16, 2024 deadline, when it had 320,491 active service lines.

Most customer-side pipe was never documented, and a line with only one side known is listed as unknown, which triggers a notice. The first letters went out in fall 2024, and notices now go out every year to customers still listed as unknown: about 225,000 in fall 2025, and more than 200,000 in the round that began in early October 2026.

• The letter is a notification, not a repair order; DWU's online inventory map shows how your address is listed.
• The rule sets a 10-year timeline to finish the inventory and replace any lead and galvanized lines that need replacement.
• DWU says it has not identified any lead service lines through its inventory work so far.

Which side of the meter is yours?

• Public side: from the water main in the street or alley to the meter. DWU maintains it, and the meter too.
• Private side: from the meter box to the house or building, plus all the plumbing inside. The property owner is responsible for it.

At most Dallas homes the meter box sits near the curb, sidewalk or alley, and the private line runs underground to the house, often surfacing near a front hose bib or, on pier-and-beam houses, in the crawlspace. In apartment and condo buildings, the owner or association usually acts on it.

How a plumber checks your pipe material

1. Find both ends: the meter box and the point where the line enters the house. If the pipe is buried, a small test hole may be dug.
2. Scratch and magnet test. Following the EPA's method, the pipe is gently scratched with a coin or key and checked with a magnet.
3. Photos and notes of each end, ready for DWU's survey.

• Copper: scratches to a new-penny color; a magnet won't stick.
• Galvanized steel: gray, hard to scratch, threaded joints, and a magnet grabs it. Common in 1920s–1950s homes in Oak Cliff, East Dallas and South Dallas.
• Plastic: white, gray, blue or black (PEX, PVC or polyethylene); no test needed.
• Lead: soft, scratches bright silver, not magnetic.

Replacement options

Copper or plastic on your side

Usually nothing needs replacing. Submit the survey with photos so DWU can update its record of your line.

Galvanized steel

Under the federal rule, a galvanized line that is or ever was downstream of lead pipe is classified "galvanized requiring replacement." Even when it isn't, old galvanized pipe rusts from the inside until pressure drops and water runs brown, then leaks at threaded joints. Many owners replace it for those reasons alone.

Lead

If any part of your side is lead, DWU's guidance puts replacing it on the property owner. Report it through the survey.

How the new line goes in

• New line from the meter: the old line is taken out and new copper or PEX is laid in bedding suited to Dallas clay, which swells and shrinks with the weather.
• Inside too: if the indoor supply pipes are galvanized, it often makes sense to repipe at the same time.

A plumbing permit is generally needed to replace a service line; ask about it when you call. Cost depends on the length and depth of the run, obstacles like driveways and trees, and the route. See water line repair, water line installation or water pressure repair.

Service line letter FAQ

Have your service line checked

Holding a DWU letter? Call (844) 313-1397 to book a material check at a time that suits you, or use our contact page. We cover Dallas from Kessler Park to Lakewood and Pleasant Grove. Coupons (terms on our coupons page): new customers save $50; seniors, military and first responders save 10%; and the dispatch fee is $0 when a repair is done.