Planning and Developing a Service Line Inventory

To address lead in drinking water, it is important for water systems to develop and maintain an inventory of service line materials. Developing an inventory and identifying the location of lead service lines (LSL) is the first step for beginning LSL replacement and protecting public health. The resources on this page are intended to help water systems build their own service line inventory.

On this page:

• Federal Inventory Requirement
• Service Line Inventory Guidance
• Service Line Inventory Case Studies, Webinars, and Research

Federal Inventory Requirement

The Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) requires water systems to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials. Initial inventories are required to be submitted to state primacy agencies by October 16, 2024.

Required and Recommended Inventory Elements

A service line inventory must include:

1. All service lines, regardless of the actual or intended use
2. Service line material classification (i.e., lead, galvanized requiring replacement (GRR), non-lead, or lead status unknown)
3. Material classifications for both the system- and customer-side where ownership is split
4. Location identifiers for lead and GRR (e.g., street address)

EPA recommends that a service line inventory also:

• Include detailed location identifiers;
• Add sub-classifications for service line materials;
• Track other drinking water infrastructure components potentially containing lead; and
• Document additional service line characteristics.

Service Line Inventory Guidance

Inventory Guidance Overview

On August 4, 2022, EPA released their Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory (pdf) (6.79 MB, August 4, 2022, 816-B-22-001) to support water systems with their efforts to develop inventories and to provide states with information for oversight and reporting to EPA. EPA’s guidance includes:

• Best practices for inventory development and communicating information to the public.
• An  Inventory Template (xlsx) (1.53 MB, August 4, 2022)  for water systems, states, and Tribes to use or adapt to create their own inventory.
• Case studies on developing, reviewing, and communicating about inventories.
• Discussion on the importance of prioritizing inventory development in disadvantaged communities and where children live and play.

Small Entity Compliance Guide and Fact Sheet

•   Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory: Small Entity Compliance Guide (pdf) (1.47 MB, June 2023, 815-B-23-005) On June 28, 2023, EPA released the Small Entity Compliance Guide to support water systems, particularly small water systems, in complying with the LCRR initial inventory requirements. This guide explains the inventory-related actions small community and non-transient non-community water systems are required to take under the LCRR.
• Fact Sheet for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory (pdf) (1.26 MB, June 2023, 816-F-22-001) On June 28, 2023, EPA released this fact sheet to help water systems quickly identify the key LCRR inventory requirements, including inventory elements, planning, records review, investigations, public accessibility, and information for non-lead systems.

Supplemental Materials

• Press Release – The August 4, 2022 press release announcing the release of EPA’s inventory guidance document.
• Webinar - Getting the Lead Out: Guidance for Developing Service Line Inventories and Funding Information on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. On August 10, 2022, EPA hosted this webinar to provide an overview of EPA’s Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory and information on addressing lead with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).  

Service Line Inventory Tools, Case Studies, Webinars, and Research

Service Line Inventory Tools

The Technical Assistance Needs Assessment and Community Workplan Template can help TA providers/water systems build a foundation for all planning and support needs for lead service line inventory and replacement planning. The template will walk the water system and/or TA provider through past efforts, TA needs, planning work around service line inventory, lead service line replacement planning, community engagement efforts, lead service line replacement funding support, LSLR construction support, and schedule for completing tasks and delivering TA. This is intended to be used by TA providers and/or water system staff to customize and fill out for each system's specifications. Not all fields and/or tasks may be applicable for each water system and additional information may be needed. Technical Assistance Needs Assessment and Community Workplan Template (docx) (265.7 KB, 5/30/2024)

If you have any questions regarding this product, please email: WaterTa@epa.gov

Service Line Inventory Webinars

• EPA’s Office of Water hosted a series of quarterly webinars highlighting challenges and successes in lead service line identification and replacement. The webinar series showcased how states and public water systems have successfully identified lead service lines and shared that information with the public to raise awareness about the presence of lead service lines in their communities. Click here to view the 2019 webinars.
• EPA’s March 27, 2023 webinar on using asset management principles to build service line inventories:
  • Webinar slides: Applying Principles of Asset Management to Service Line Inventories 03.27.23 (pdf) (3.5 MB)
  • Webinar recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm5V1YnREPU&t=4s
• EPA’s May 24, 2022 webinar on LSL identification and replacement, as well as DWSRF and BIL funding opportunities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bafRGlS61KE

Lead Service Line Identification Research

EPA’s approaches for identifying LSLs: https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/epa-researchers-share-approaches-identify-lead-service-line