The Great Lakes Water Authority is assessing steel pipes in its 800-mile system for "similar circumstances" to the break that flooded southwest Detroit.

The Water Authority is working to identify the types of pipes leading into the final 10,000 of the 196,000 service lines in the county. The county is actively replacing public lead pipes.

Volunteers with AmeriCorps are going door-to-door to inspect the pipes. "We do a scratch test and a metal test to see if it's galvanized lead or copper," said Jasmine Pierce, an AmeriCorps volunteer.

The city investigated 98% of its water lines and found no lead pipes, but some were made of galvanized steel that "may have absorbed lead" and some were designated "unknown," according to the letters.

Water Works created its lead pipe replacement program in 2016 when it had 42,000 lead lines in its service area. That included public lines maintained by Water Works and private ones, from ...