Glossary
Short answer
Utility letters use terms like service line, galvanized requiring replacement (GRR), curb stop and 'unknown'. This glossary defines each in one line, based on EPA’s rule and utility usage, so you can read your notice and know what to do next.
- Official sources
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- Service line
- The pipe that carries water from the water main in the street to your building.
- Lead service line (LSL)
- A service line made wholly or partly of lead.
- Galvanized requiring replacement (GRR)
- A galvanized steel line that is or was downstream of a lead component; EPA rules treat it like a lead line for replacement.
- Curb stop / curb box
- The shutoff valve, often near the sidewalk, that commonly marks where utility ownership ends and owner ownership begins.
- Service line inventory
- The utility's record of every service line's material: lead, GRR, non-lead or unknown.
- Unknown
- An inventory label meaning the material has not been confirmed.
- LCRI
- Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, EPA's 2024 rule (Federal Register, Oct 30, 2024) with a Nov 1, 2027 compliance date.
- Primacy agency
- The state agency (or EPA, in Wyoming) that enforces drinking water rules for public water systems.
- Full replacement
- Replacing both the utility-owned and owner-owned parts of a lead line.
- Partial replacement
- Replacing only one side of the line; EPA rules restrict this practice.
- NSF/ANSI 53
- The certification standard filters are tested against for health-related contaminant reduction claims, including lead.
- SRF
- State Revolving Fund: state-run loan funds, partly federally funded, that help pay for water projects including lead line replacement.
- Lien loan
- A loan secured by your property, like Columbus LEAP, repaid when the property is sold or refinanced.
- Special assessment
- A charge added to your property tax bill, like Milwaukee's 15-year payment option.