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Some residents in Denver's metro area have been receiving new water pitchers in the mail, courtesy of Denver Water. The agency serves around 1.5 million people in the region, and began its 15-year Lead Reduction Program at the end of July. The agency delivers lead-free water, but lead can get into drinking water as it moves through customer-owned service lines and plumbing fixtures, officials said. Denver Water is identifying which properties have a lead service line, and sending those residents information, along with a Brita water pitcher and filter that is certified to remove lead. To protect customers from lead in drinking water, Denver Water raised the pH of the water in March to reduce corrosivity, and the agency will be replacing all customer-owned lead service lines over the next 15 years at no direct cost to the customer, officials said. See the full article for more. The Oakland Press
See the full article By Mark Cavitt The Oakland County Water Resource Commissioner's (WRC) Office is planning to replace over 8,000 lead water lines in the City of Pontiac over the next 20 years. Under the 2018 lead and copper rule signed into law by former Gov. Rick Snyder, public water providers statewide, including the WRC who overtook management of Pontiac's water system in 2015, are required to replace all lead water service lines within their service area by 2041. Around 40 percent of the city's water service lines are known to, or likely, contain lead, according to Jim Nash, Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner. The WRC has applied for $8.97 million in grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help replace 1,160 lead service lines from 2021 through 2024 at a cost of $9.97 million. This four-year project will impact 3,500 to 4,000 Pontiac residents. The entire project, expected to take 20 years, will cost between $45 million and $60 million and include the replacement of over 8,000 lead water service lines across the city, which includes residential and small businesses. See the full article. Fox31 News
See the full article. By Shaul Turner DENVER (KDVR) — If you live in an area with older water pipes, you may be getting a notice saying they’ll soon be replaced.Denver Water’s Lead Reduction Plan was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in December. The project could cost up to $500 million. Homes built before 1951 are more likely to have lead service lines. Denver Water estimates there are as many as 84,000 properties that may be affected. Denver Water crews install or replace an average of 106,000 feet of pipe each year. The program’s goal is to replace 140,000 feet of pipe a year by 2024. A top concern is lead caused by decades of corrosion. Water provided by the city is lead-free but once it gets into the pipe that brings it into the homeowner’s plumbing system, it can be exposed to lead if that pipe is old and needs to be replaced. See the full article. East Village Magazine
See the full article By Jan Worth-Nelson The City of Flint announced Tuesday that water pipeline replacement, paused the last two months by the coronavirus lockdowns, will resume this week. When work stopped in March, 9,554 lead or galvanized pipes had been replaced, part of the city’s infrastructure recovery from the water crisis triggered in 2014 when the lack of corrosion control in the pipes from Flint River water unleashed lead from old pipes into the bodies of Flint residents. What happened to the city, under state takeover at the time, was labeled a national disgrace in what some called the worst human-made environmental disaster of our lifetimes. A total of 25,409 pipes have been excavated in the water pipeline work, with 15,526 discovered to be copper lines not needing replacement. The work, funded by $100 million from the federal Water Infrastructure Improvement for the Nation (WIIN) fund, originally was scheduled to be completed by 2019, but “fell behind schedule during the previous administration,” of former Mayor Karen Weaver, and because of the COVID-shutdowns, according to the city’s press release. Weaver was defeated in 2019 by Sheldon Neeley. See the full article. The Batavian
By Mike Pettinella See the full article. The City of Batavia has tapped into a New York State program designed to help municipalities “get the lead out.” Batavia City Council members, at their Conference Meeting via Zoom tonight, are expected to hear from Public Works Director Matt Worth about a $554,112 grant the City has received from the NYS Department of Health’s Lead Service Line Replacement Plan. Worth said he and his staff have developed a work plan that is designed to replace 75 lead service lines on Swan, Hutchins and Otis streets on the City’s Southside. “We suspect that 20 to 30 percent of our residential services may still be lead -- from the water main to the curb shut-off,” Worth said. “We have never observed it from the curb shut-off into the house.” See the full article. Fox 11
See the full article. GREEN BAY (WLUK) – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin unanimously approved a Lead Service Line Replacement Program for Green Bay Water Utility. This program is made possible through 2017 Leading on Lead Act. The Leading on Lead Act provides an innovative funding mechanism to address the problem of lead-laden water. The act allows governments to pass an ordinance to use ratepayer dollars for a low or no-interest loan or an up to 50 percent grant for private property owners to replace their lead service lines. As public health continues to be on the minds of Wisconsinites, a positive step was made today to address the issue of lead poisoning in Green Bay residents. The plan approved by the PSC isn’t Green Bay’s first effort to address lead-laden water, but today’s action lays a path to finish ridding their water infrastructure of lead service lines. This plan doesn’t just help residents with lead laterals, but the entire community will benefit as public health improves, creating long-term economic savings, and Utility costs decrease as anti-corrosive materials become less necessary and newer infrastructure reduces the risk of leaks or failures. See the full article. LI Herald.com
See the full article. By Jennifer Corr The City of Glen Cove will be accepting an amount not to exceed $627,327 grant from the New York State Department of Health to fund new water pipes as part of the NYS DOH Lead Service Line Replacement Program. “We’re going to replace lead lines, which is a good thing and we’re required to contribute zero,” said Rocco Graziosi, the project manager at Public Works who is heading the operation. New York’s Clean Water Infrastructure Act of 2017 required the DOH to implement the LSLRP in an effort to prevent lead exposure. According to the DOH, service pipes that contain lead can corrode, causing lead to enter drinking water. And while a lead service line does not mean a household has a lead issue, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that contaminated drinking water can contribute 20 percent or more to a person’s lead exposure and infants who consume formula can receive 40 to 60 percent of their exposure to lead from contaminated water. See the full article. Daily Times Chronicle
See the full article. WINCHESTER - Town Treasurer Sheila Tracy requested the Select Board approve a loan to the town from the MWRA Local Water System Assistance Program/Lead Service Line Replacement Program (Phase 3). She said the loan would be used to continue Winchester’s program to remove goosenecks. It’s an interest free loan in the amount of $600,000 and the town will repay it in 10 installments of $60,000 each, over a 10 year period beginning May 15, 2021. The motion, read by Select Board member Susan Verdicchio said, “voted: that the sale of the $600,000 Water Bond of the town dated June 1, 2020 to Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (the ‘Authority’) is hereby approved and the Town Treasurer or other appropriate town official is authorized to execute on behalf of the town a Loan Agreement and a Financial Assistance Agreement with the Authority with respect to the bond. The bond shall be payable without interest on May 15 of the years and in the principal amounts: $60,000 each year from 2021 through 2030. See the full article. Bismarck Tribune
See the full article By Dave Thompson Bismarck has received a $5 million loan from the state’s drinking water revolving loan fund to replace cast iron water mains in the downtown area. The area in question is between Boulevard Avenue and Main Avenue, and Washington Street and 10th Street. The project will begin this summer, Bismarck Utility Operations Director Michelle Klose told Prairie Public. The area also has a lot of lead service lines, according to Klose. As a part of the loan package, the state’s Department of Health and Department of Environmental Quality granted the city $500,000 to help homeowners replace those lines, she said. The program would cover up to 90% of the replacement cost. See the full article. Chicago Tribune
By Carrie Napoleon See the full article. Old lead water lines to abandoned homes and vacant lots in the Marshalltown and University Park neighborhoods in Gary are the latest lines being replaced by Indiana American Water Co. The work is part of a multi-year, statewide effort by the water utility to replace all lead service lines throughout the state, according to Joe Loughmiller, external affairs manager for Indiana American Water Co. Water lines to occupied homes will have to wait until the social distancing measures enacted by Gov. Eric Holcomb in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, are lifted, he said. “We have been very proactive in Indiana dealing with the issue of lead service lines,” Loughmiller said via email. The company regularly samples for lead pursuant to the EPA’s Copper Rule and continue to be in compliance across the state, including Northwest Indiana. See the full article. |
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