Archives: FAQs

What criteria will help the City Council understand the importance of your community in the redistricting process?

Please consider the following questions and criteria when considering your community of interest (for consideration only, no need to provide answers): Does your community have a shared culture, characteristics, or bond? Is your community geographic in nature? Is your community able to be mapped? Is there density within your community? Describe your community’s relationship with … Continued

What is a Community of Interest?

A Community of Interest is a group of people in the same geographically definable area who share common social and economic interests. Some examples of Communities of Interest are: Senior citizens Families with children attending the same schools People who live downtown or in a neighborhood Dog park community Residents who share a common language … Continued

What about commercial businesses?

While the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions primarily focus on residences, schools, and daycare centers, commercial businesses and business centers with service lines less than two inches are also included in the service line inventory.

How do I know whether my drinking water contains lead?

Several factors can be considered to determine whether your plumbing contains lead. Because it is colorless and tasteless, lead is not readily apparent in water. In 1986, the use of plumbing materials and fixtures with lead was banned in California. Therefore, homes built after 1986 do not have lead service lines due to changes in … Continued

How does lead get into drinking water?

Lead is not naturally occurring in the City of Sonoma’s source water, from Sonoma County Water Agency, and does not come from the city’s water distribution system piping. However, in some older homes, lead may be present in the pipe connecting the home to the water system – known as a service line – or … Continued

What happens if my service line is identified as “Non-Lead”?

There will be no further correspondence sent to properties that have service lines identified as non-lead.

Does the City of Sonoma have lead in its drinking water?

Historically, no lead piping has been found by city employees throughout the course of installation, replacement, inspections and upgrades to the city’s water system.

What does it mean if I receive a notice that my service line is “GRR”?

When the City of Sonoma performed site inspections, we found that your water service from the meter to your home to be galvanized iron. Galvanized iron is a material that has the potential to absorb lead over time. We currently do not have any city-owned lead water services within the City of Sonoma. Records show … Continued

How is the inventory conducted?

The City of Sonoma is gathering information about service line material while installing new water meters as part of the in-progress Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project. A map showing up-to-date identification of all water services is located on the Lead Service Line Inventory webpage. In addition to field inspections, data from existing records, utility maps, … Continued

What does it mean if I receive a notice that my service line is made of “unknown material”?

View/Download the notice (coming soon) to learn more and explore next steps.