In May 2016, in response to a Right-to-Know Law request, Lititz Borough released records showing it had located a little over 300 addresses where water reached the property through a lead gooseneck. Because some of those parcels had no building on them, the list itself ran to just under 300 entries across four pages.
The borough said at the time that the list was not complete. Some addresses had been left off before it was released, and officials cautioned that a property missing from the list could still have lead somewhere between the main and the tap. That caveat is as important now as it was then.
What a gooseneck is
A gooseneck, sometimes called a pigtail, is a short flexible pipe that links the water main under the street to the service line running to a building. Plumbers in the early and mid-1900s often used lead for these pieces because it bent easily and resisted cracking as the ground shifted. The connector may be only a foot or two long, but it sits in the path of every glass of water a household draws.
Lead from goosenecks, service lines and older solder leaches into water mainly when the water is corrosive or sits still in the pipes for hours. That is why water systems add corrosion control treatment and why the state had required Lititz to treat its water to reduce corrosivity.
Why the 2016 list drew attention
The release came weeks after the Department of Environmental Protection cited the borough for not choosing proper sampling sites under the Lead and Copper Rule. The rule expects a system to sample the homes most likely to have lead. A list of gooseneck addresses is, in effect, a map of where that sampling should have been concentrated. Our rewrite of the violation story is here: How the state found Lititz Borough broke lead-testing rules.
Reading an old list in 2026
A ten-year-old list should not be treated as the final word on any house. Since 2016 some connectors will have been replaced during main work, street projects or service repairs. Others may have been found that were not known then. The better source today is the service line inventory that federal rules now require.
Under the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, every community water system had to submit an inventory by October 16, 2024, classifying each service line as lead, galvanized requiring replacement, non-lead, or lead status unknown. Systems must make the inventory publicly accessible. The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, finalized in October 2024, go further: most systems must replace lead and galvanized lines within ten years, and lead connectors such as goosenecks are part of what must be tracked and removed when found.
To check your own property:
- Ask the borough water department how your address is classified in the inventory and whether a gooseneck has been recorded.
- If your line is listed as unknown, ask when it is scheduled to be verified.
- Look at where the service line enters your house, usually near the meter. A dull gray pipe that scratches to a shiny silver and does not attract a magnet may be lead. That check covers the line inside your house, not the connector at the main.
- If you are worried, test your tap through a state-accredited laboratory. Our guide to where to have your water tested explains the options.
Simple habits that cut exposure
While inventories and replacements move forward, a few practices lower the risk in any older home:
- Use only cold water for drinking, cooking and infant formula.
- If water has sat for several hours, run the tap until it feels colder before using it.
- Clean faucet aerators every few months, since lead particles can collect there.
- Use a filter certified to NSF/ANSI Standard 53 for lead if there is any doubt, and replace cartridges on schedule.
- Do not boil water to remove lead. Boiling concentrates it.
The 2016 records gave residents a first look at where lead hardware sat under Lititz streets. The inventory now required by federal law should give a fuller one. If what you learn about your address does not line up with what the borough has on file, tell us through the Contact page.