LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – We continue to track lead water pipes in Kentucky.

The state Energy and Environment Cabinet gives us updated numbers.

The Environmental Protection Agency has given all water companies until October 16, requiring them to submit complete lists of materials for their service lines.

This includes lead lines and lines that water companies simply don’t know about.

As part of monitoring a WKYT investigationwe can now see how many public water systems have complied so far.

In Kentucky, the EEC says 391 public water systems were required to submit initial inventories of service line materials.

As of this week, the Water Division has recovered 98.5% of these inventories.

They document the material that makes up service lines, which is the pipe that connects the main line to a house.

Many of the state’s water pipes are “unknown materials.” Some might even be made of lead.

Within the next 30 days, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet says most Kentuckians will receive a notice from their water company, telling them their pipes are either unknown, lead or iron galvanized.

The EEC is now asking homeowners whose pipes are made of unknown materials to begin working directly with their water companies to identify these pipes.

Because lead pipes can erode, and when they do, they can contaminate the water that passes through them.

WKYT asked the Water Division, WHO is part of that 1.5% that is currently missing, but we have not yet received a response.

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