PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Water utility companies have been replacing lead pipes throughout the region, but not everyone knows if their water lines are made with lead.
When it comes to the water in your home, the water lines that run down the street are owned by the company, while the homeowner owns from the curb into the house.
“After the curb and into the customer’s house is what the customer is responsible for,” Joann Hepler of Pennsylvania American Water said.
However, under a special lead line replacement program at Pennsylvania American Water, crews will replace the homeowner’s lead water lines at no direct cost to the customer.
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“When we determine that you have a lead service, we will replace it as part of a main replacement project or separately if we don’t have a project going on in that area,” Hepler said.
To find out if you have lead pipes going into your house, and most do not, Hepler, lead program operations manager, says customers should go to a special map on the company’s website, type in their address, and then see what the company has on file.
“If you can’t figure it out, if you request an inspection, we’ll send somebody to come in and inspect that service line for you,” Hepler said.
You can let Pennsylvania American Water know of your lead pipes in an online survey, and Hepler says you should let the company know quickly. While it may take a while to replace lead water pipes, Hepler says don’t worry about the water quality.
“We take steps to reduce the potential of lead leaching from service lines and household pipes into water by managing the levels of PH in the water leaving our treatment facilities and adding a corrosion inhibitor where we need to,” Hepler said.
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Pennsylvania American Water says it has a plan to replace all lead pipes leading into homes over the next decade.
Jon Delano
Jon Delano is a familiar face on KDKA, having been the station’s political analyst since 1994. In September 2001, Jon joined KDKA full time as the Money & Politics Editor and this region’s only political analyst who covers national and local issues that affect hometown residents.
More than $22 million in “Money Match” checks were mailed to nearly 100,000 Pennsylvanians, the treasury said.
In a news release on Thursday, the Pennsylvania Treasury said people should be on the lookout for the checks, which are part of the Pennsylvania Money Match program. Treasurer Stacy Garrity said to cash or deposit the checks “promptly.”
The first Pennsylvania Money Match checks, totaling more than $1.7 million, are now on the way to Pennsylvanians’ mailboxes. Pennsylvania Money Match is a new program that allows Treasury to return certain unclaimed property to rightful owners automatically, which was approved unanimously by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor last year.
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“I want Pennsylvanians to know that this is a real check, it is real money, and it belongs to them,” Garrity said in the news release. “And as always, I still encourage everyone to regularly search for unclaimed property online, as many claims will not qualify for the Money Match process.”
With the mailing of the year’s last batch of checks, more than $50 million will have been returned automatically to Pennsylvanians.
What are Money Match checks?
The program allows the state treasury to automatically return unclaimed property valued up to $500 owned by a single individual. Before the program was created in 2024, residents themselves had to seek out unclaimed property.
“I’m thrilled to continue this program as we work hard to get more money back to its rightful owners,” Garrity said in the news release.
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However, if the property has multiple owners or is valued higher than $500, Pennsylvanians still need to file a claim.
What is unclaimed property?
Unclaimed property includes dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stocks, rebates and insurance policies, among other things. It can also include the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes.
According to the state treasury, more than one in 10 Pennsylvanians is owed some of the $5 billion in unclaimed property in the treasury’s care, and the average value of a claim is more than $1,000.
Unclaimed property scam
On its website, the state treasury has a warning about scammers using text messages to target potential unclaimed property claimants.
The department “never reaches out to people in regard to any program, including unclaimed property, via unsolicited text messages.”
A special weather statement was issued by the National Weather Service on Friday at 10:06 a.m. until 1 p.m. for Warren, McKean, Elk, Cameron, Clearfield, Cambria and Somerset counties.
“Temperatures will drop below the freezing mark through midday with rain showers quickly changing to snow showers. Blustery winds may dry off roads and other paved surfaces, but any residual water from previous rain or melting snow could freeze up and result in slick spots through the afternoon,” explains the weather service.
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