Wyoming Water History

Wyoming Water Works History

Wyoming Water Works began operations in 1892. Lead water service lines were commonly installed for homes in the early days. Lead began being phased out in Wyoming in the 1930s and 1940s. We have inventoried many service lines in Wyoming and have found none have been installed since 1950. So, it is extremely unlikely a home built in Wyoming since 1950 has a lead water service line. Moreover, we have found lead service lines to be fairly rare in Wyoming homes built in the 1940s.

Today, Wyoming Water Works serves almost 9,000 people in Wyoming and small portions of Springfield Township and Woodlawn. Water mains serving homes here are cast iron, ductile iron, plastic, and transite. We currently have over 45 miles of distribution water mains.

Each Wyoming customer averages using 77 gallons of water per day. Only a small fraction of this water is used for drinking. The rest is used for cooking, bathing, washing clothing, dishwashing, irrigation, etc.

City of Wyoming Historic Lead Test Results:

Per USEPA requirements, utilities such as Wyoming Water Works began testing for lead when the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule was passed.

Wyoming Water Works has routinely tested for lead in drinking water since then.  Every three years, Wyoming samples drinking water from at least 20 representative homes in Wyoming (which have lead service line materials).  Because of Wyoming’s relatively hard drinking water, our water has performed well on these tests.  Below are our results from the last 20 years:

The 90th percentile value shown indicates 90% of samples were at or below the value listed (Results above show Wyoming lead results below detection limit six out of seven years of testing).  The 2022 results showed the 90th percentile below 0.6 ppb (the detection limit).  The EPA limit for lead in drinking water of 15 ppb is being reduced to 10 ppb in 2027.

While we are pleased with these results and are confident in our lead safety for all residents, we encourage residents with lead lines to take additional precautions.  Flush your tap if it has been unused for 6 or more hours.  Remember, the longer time water is in lead pipes, the more likely it is to be contaminated by the lead.

Finally, disturbing lead lines during construction can cause short-term lead increases.  During street construction projects or similar water projects, the City will provide filters to residents who have their lead lines worked on.  In addition, let us know of any private construction work that may disturb your lead line and we will provide a lead removal pitcher free of charge (good for six months).