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Dayton Daily News
See the full article online. The city of Dayton says it will notify property owners when it is working on water infrastructure that may include lead service lines. The city says it will comply with new state regulations that require it send residents and business owners a 45-day notice when working on projects that may affect lead service lines. Property owners who may have lead water service lines in a planned project area will receive the notices as well as “resource packets,” the city said. The packets will contain lead test kits and sample collection containers. They will provide instructions about how to flush water systems. They will offer a free water pitcher filter and replacement cartridges. And they will have an educational brochure and information about private water service line replacements. The city’s goal is to replace about 1 percent of the city’s water distribution system each year, which adds up to about eight miles of lines each year. The city replaces lead pipes it finds in the portions of the city it operates. The city will notify property owners if it finds private service lines that contain lead. The costs of replacing private lines are the responsibility of property owners. But the city says it will help coordinate the replacement of the private lines with a plumber chosen by the properly owner. “Hearing the word ‘lead’ can really be frustrating and intimidating for residents and business owners,” said Michael Powell, director of the Department of Water, in a statement. “It is important to us to find a way to help residents identify pipe materials of the privately owned portion of the water service line.” The city says it started a repair and replacement program for its water distribution system in 2013. The work involves the replacement of distribution mains, valves and hydrants. The city says its compliance and partnership with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency ensure that residents and customers will continue receiving safe and reliable drinking water. Water Quality Products
See the full article online The state now requires water systems to notify residents and provide filters for lead service line replacement The Ohio EPA released new regulations regarding how Ohio public water systems must alert residents and businesses when lead services lines are being replaced, according to Dayton Daily News. Under the new rule, every public water system in Ohio must notify residents or business owners 45 days before working on lead service lines. Additionally, water systems are now required to provide filters to residents for up to three months after work is complete. The new rules comes as cities across Ohio are working to replace lead service lines and amid debate over partial versus full lead service line replacement. According to the U.S. EPA, the total number of lead service lines is unknown but as many as 10 million homes may be connected to lead service lines across the country. In Ohio, water utilities are working to replace public lead service lines, but the burden of private lead service lines replacement falls on the homeowner, with an estimated price tag of up to $9,000. “There are no local incentives for people to replace [their part of the service lines] that I’m aware of,” said Aaron Zonin, deputy director of the Dayton, Ohio, water department. “This rule came really fast.” The city of Dayton, Ohio, began a plan to replace about 1% of its more than 800 miles of water infrastructure each year in 2013, as reported by Dayton Daily News. The city plans to invest more than $160 million in the next 10 years on water infrastructure upgrades. “Years ago, we began an aggressive program to replace public water infrastructure,” Zonin said. “We were thinking ahead; we were aggressive. We have everything in place.” Water Online
See the original article It has been 32 years since the amended Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) banned the installation of lead pipes in water systems nationwide. Unfortunately, that decision has not yet translated into action for every lead service line (LSL) installed before that point. Fortunately, someone has done a lot of legwork toward getting a handle on that process. Here is a preview of the help they have to offer. Identifying The Scope Of The Problem As much as has been learned about the effects of lead in drinking water as a result of the Flint, MI water crisis, progress toward eliminating the causes has been slow — in part relating to delays in the U.S. EPA finalizing long-term revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). Complying with the requirements of the LCR, however, is just a first step toward dealing with the problem. This executive report on the contribution of service lines and plumbing fixtures to lead and copper compliance issues concludes: “Corrosion control treatment is likely still the best and most cost-effective way to comply with the requirements of the LCR. However, the consumer’s portion of the lead service line, which is beyond the jurisdiction of local water utilities, remains an important unresolved source of lead. The most effective way to reduce the total mass of lead measured at the tap is to replace the entire lead service line, followed by replacement of lead sources in the premise piping, the faucet, and then the meter.” Public Health Newswire
See the original article This guest post by Surili Patel, deputy director of APHA’s Center for Public Health Policy, discusses an exciting APHA 2018 panel on creating public health partnerships to advance lead service line replacement. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to lead in the environment can contribute to cognitive impairment, behavioral problems and lowered IQ in children and cause other health effects in adults. Lead can be found in dust, air, soil and drinking water in and around our homes, schools and child care facilities. And while there is no safe level of lead exposure, lead poisoning is preventable. In honor of National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, we are talking about one way in which children and families are exposed to lead: drinking water. Lead can enter drinking water when pipes and plumbing fixtures that contain lead corrode. While Congress banned the use of lead pipes in 1986, lead service lines still connect the plumbing of over 6-10 million homes to water mains under the street. WoodTV
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — The Flint water crisis made everyone painfully aware of just how dangerous lead pipes are. In Kalamazoo, workers were busy replacing lead pipes even before Flint made local and national headlines. Steve Skalski is Kalamazoo’s assistant city engineer. He says the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality awarded the City of Kalamazoo a $1 million grant. “It’s pretty significant,” he said. The money will be spent to identify and remove lead pipes. “It’s a lot of money to spend on services,” said Skalski. Read the full article here. Leader-Telegram
The dutiful homeowner she is, Rose Judkins keeps a little money on hand for unexpected repairs to her Eddy Street house. But this year’s upgrade to her early 20th century home — replacing old lead-lined water pipes that ran under her lawn with copper ones — was followed by a check that refunded her for most of the cost. “We didn’t want lead pipes in here because it can make you sick,” Judkins said. After paying about $2,400 for the work herself, she got a $2,000 check a few weeks later from the city, which received funds from the state Department of Natural Resources to reduce the amount of lead pipes in its water system. Read the full article. After A Year, Providence Water Customers Still Tapping Into Loan Program To Replace Lead Pipes9/21/2018
Rhode Island NPR
It’s been about a year since water supply board Providence Water rolled out a loan program for customers looking to replace their lead pipes, and they say it's been off to a good start. The three-year, no interest loans cover the entire cost of replacing private lead service lines, which are the pipes that run from the curb to a property’s water meter. Read the full article. Kenosha News
Holding her and fiance Dylan Ries’ 1-year-old son, Leonardo, in her arms Tuesday morning, Selena Mercado beamed with happiness. “I hope to see more families as happy as I am about this because this really is a blessing to me,” Mercado said outside their home in the 4700 block of 19th Avenue. “This” was replacement of the lead pipe lateral from their house to the curb. That pipe links to a Kenosha Water Utility street side lateral that connects to a drinking water main deep below the roadway. Read the full article. The Beacon News
Steve Lord Aurora is set to enact a new program to help people replace lead water pipes that service their homes. Aldermen are likely to approve the program at the regular City Council meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers, City Hall, 44 E. Downer Place. The plan provides a choice of mechanisms by which private homeowners can deal with the lead water service lines to their homes. The city owns and operates a water distribution system, but the city's responsibility and ownership ends where the private homeowners' service line connects to the water, on private property. Read the full article. Environmental Defense Fund
Tom Neltner In a landmark decision on July 25, 2018, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approved American Water’s plan to fully replace the lead service lines (LSLs) in the communities served by its Indiana subsidiary over the next 10 to 24 years. This represents the replacement of about 50,000 LSLs across 27 community water systems (CWSs). As we highlighted in our blog on the company’s January 2018 proposal, the plan provides a framework that enables the cost of fully replacing LSLs, whether owned by the utility or by customers, to be shared by its 300,000 customers. As far as we know, this is the first comprehensive, voluntary LSL replacement program developed by an investor-owned utility in the country. In its plan, American Water cited both long-term health and economic benefits that would be realized from avoiding partial replacements when rehabilitating water mains and laterals. The plan showed that having a single contractor handle the entire line reduces the overall cost by 25 t0 30%. It also avoids the likely increased risk of consumer’s exposure to lead when only part of the lead pipe is replaced. Read the full blog. |
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