JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — JEA is taking on a project that involves inspecting water service lines for lead. The utilities company says it launched the project to comply with a newly passed addendum to the Lead and Copper Rule that was established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

JEA says customers should not be concerned if their homes were built after 1986. They told First Coast News homes were randomly selected to confirm if there are signs of lead or not.

So far, officials said they’re inspecting the older areas of Jacksonville such as: Arlington, Springfield and Murray Hill. Their inspections also includes the city’s Eastside, as crews already checking for lead in water lines, fortunately have not found any.

JEA Director of Environmental Operations Kevin Holbrooks said the company is 70% done with its first inventory. That is about 300,000 homes.

“If we do find lead in your system or something like that, we would send a letter out to you and notify you as quickly as possible that you have lead lines,” Holbrooks told First Coast News. “We do have a replacement schedule. We would work with you, the customer, to ensure we can get it replaced.”

JEA said this process will be a multi-year project rolled out in phases. Phase one will include verification of water service lines within JEA’s service territory as well as inspections of more than 400 randomly selected customer water service lines. Phase two involves calling customers to complete a water service line self-verification if their home was built prior to June 1986, when the Safe Drinking Water Act was amended to prohibit plumbing material that was not lead-free.

Homeowners who are concerned about being at risk of lead contamination can reach out to JEA at 904-655-6000. 

Additionally, Holbrooks suggests homeowners purchase a water filter if there are any concerns. 

“Please give us a call and we’ll put you on a list to come out and look at your lines,” he said.

JEA said it is not responsible for the meter to the home. And if one discovers lead, the utilities company said the customer would have to pay for the repair.