Engineers nationwide know the clock is ticking, and the race is on to replace lead pipes.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule, issued in October, sets a 10-year timeline for water systems across the U.S. to identify and replace all lead service lines. The decade-long time frame begins Nov. 1, 2027, giving water utilities time to plan and prepare.
Further reading:
- Utilities dig deep as key deadline in lead line replacement nears
- That sewer system ‘rotten egg’ smell is corrosive to pipes
- How the Flint water crisis has impacted US lead-pipe removal efforts
While it will be a serious challenge for providers to be in full compliance by 2037, the landmark ruling also serves as an opportunity for reflection by those who have fought to eliminate lead lines, which have long posed serious health hazards to those whose water passes through such pipes en route to home faucets.
The Lead and Copper Rule Improvements establish more rigorous standards for testing lead levels in drinking water and lower the threshold for when communities must act to protect people from lead exposure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final rule also mandates more frequent and proactive communications about lead pipe locations and replacement plans.
Not every city is bound by the LCRI’s 10-year deadline. Recognizing that some cities face unique challenges, the EPA extended deadlines for water systems with exceptionally high numbers of lead service lines. For example, the EPA gave Chicago – which has the most lead pipes among U.S. cities – 20 years to complete replacements.
With the ruling announcement, the EPA unveiled an additional $2.6 billion in new drinking water infrastructure funding via the bipartisan infrastructure law. The new funding is part of the $11.7 billion allocated in general supplemental funding over five years for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program. Combined with $15 billion over five years for lead service line replacement activities, total BIL funding that can be used for replacing lead lines over five years is more than $26 billion.
Lessons from a water crisis
The EPA’s landmark ruling marks a key milestone in the decades-long effort to address lead contamination in drinking water systems. As a pivotal event in this ongoing public health challenge, the Flint, Michigan, water crisis raised awareness about the dangers of lead in water and ignited the urgency for regulatory action. Among those who helped uncover the crisis was Elin Betanzo, P.E., president and founder of Safe Water Engineering, based in Detroit.
Before Flint, Betanzo was in Washington, D.C., where she worked for the EPA’s Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water when dangerously high levels of lead were discovered in the city’s drinking water. She participated in the EPA response to that crisis before eventually returning to Michigan, her home state.
In April 2014, Betanzo attended an American Water Works Association event and listened to a presentation about Flint switching its water source to the Flint River while a pipeline to Lake Huron was constructed.
“That reminded me about what happened in Washington, D.C., when the city changed its water treatment process from chlorine to chloramines, stripping their corrosion control protection and resulting in lead contamination,” she said.
Betanzo found reassurance that while at the EPA, the Lead and Copper Rule was updated to require water utilities to consult on corrosion control when changing water sources. But a few months later, residents started complaining about brown water. Then reports emerged about potential lead contamination in Flint’s water. When an internal memo from EPA water expert Miguel Del Toral was leaked to the press about Flint’s lack of corrosion control, Betanzo knew there was a problem.
“I worked with Del Toral at EPA and could trust his work was done with integrity,” Betanzo said. “At that point, I started thinking about what we could do to achieve a different outcome in Flint than what happened in Washington, D.C.”
She just happened to have a childhood friend who worked in a Flint hospital, pediatrician Mona Hanna, Ph.D. “I convinced her to conduct a study because her hospital processed all the blood-level tests for Flint and the surrounding areas,” Betanzo explained. “Dr. Hanna's analysis revealed that occurrence of elevated blood lead levels doubled after the city switched water sources and was up to three times higher in neighborhoods with the highest water lead levels.”
The data was crucial. Shortly after, the state of Michigan acknowledged the problem and began taking steps to address it.
“Having actual data proving public health harm during a crisis was a game-changer,” Betanzo said. “It changed the conversation about lead in drinking water because it was evidence that lead service lines are a ticking time bomb – just one bad decision away from poisoning a community.”
After Flint, how can water utilities maintain community trust? According to Betanzo, trust is fostered by openly sharing data and being very clear with issues. “Lead communications from water utilities should be transparent and not distract the reader about the potential for lead in water,” she said. “Utilities have been hesitant to share too much information, fearing it might create a panic. But when water utilities edit their communications, they provide incomplete information, which leads to questions. That reduces trust.”
Instead, Betanzo believes that utilities should include communities in their decision-making. “When residents feel involved and consulted early in the development of a lead service line replacement program, they’re far more likely to be supportive. And the community as a whole can realize the public health benefit.”
Covering 100% of the costs for private lead line replacements is another important step in gaining community support, according to Betanzo. “Especially in underserved communities, water utilities should be paying the full cost of the replacement. By doing so, the process becomes more efficient, and residents are far more likely to cooperate.”
Another person who played a major role in exposing the Flint water crisis is Marc Edwards, Ph.D., professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech. In 2015, Edwards was contacted by Flint resident LeeAnne Walters, whose children became sick after drinking tap water. Edwards assembled a research team and went to Flint to test the city’s drinking water, uncovering dangerously high levels of lead. His work to expose the contamination in Flint drew national attention to the crisis.
“Flint is a tragic story of institutional betrayal and a loss of trust,” Edwards said. “So many minority and poor groups nationwide became afraid of their tap water in the aftermath of Flint, some consider it to be an epidemic of distrust. Distrust is costly. Our poorest, most vulnerable Americans are spending precious financial resources on bottled water and filters because of it.”
Edwards referred to the regulatory efforts to reduce lead exposure to children as a public health triumph of epic proportions. But the gains have come at a cost. “Even though lead levels in children’s blood have never been lower in industrial times, the fear about lead exposure has probably never been higher,” Edwards said. “We’ve created a permanent health scare, the harmful consequences of which are only starting to be recognized. We’ve created anxiety that isn't justified.”
Overcoming private side challenges
Of the total number of lead service lines across the country that need to be replaced, those that are privately owned will undoubtedly present the most difficulty because of the need to gain consent from property owners. (The LCRI requires removal of all privately owned lead pipes under the control of water systems.) As a model for securing participation, the city of Detroit has developed a robust lead service line replacement program anchored by community outreach that emphasizes neighborhood engagement and building trust with residents.
The city’s outreach begins at least 40 days before any planned neighborhood work and is necessary to communicate the importance of replacing lead service lines and the steps that are involved, according to Sam Smalley, P.E., deputy director of the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department. “Our public affairs team will conduct meetings that are often held on the neighborhood block,” he said. “People pull out their lawn chairs, and we explain the process from A to Z so they know what to expect.”
In the colder months, meetings are held at recreation centers or churches, but the block meetings – weather permitting – typically achieve the best outcomes, said Sonali Patel, infrastructure communications manager at the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department. “People see their neighbors coming, so it feels comfortable and easily accessible,” she said. “We will also attend neighborhood association meetings and contact any neighborhood leaders to start building relationships. Every neighborhood needs to be approached properly with outreach tailored to meet residents where they are.”
Public-facing materials, such as informational packets with graphics and clear messaging in multiple languages, are also distributed to every house. “We quickly realized the importance of going door to door,” Patel said. “Putting out yard signs or notices throughout a neighborhood isn’t enough.”
When the replacement work occurs, Detroit completes the entire lead service line at once – both public and private sections – as partial replacements are prohibited by Michigan law. The state also mandates that no direct costs for replacing lead lines are charged to homeowners.
As a result of the city’s extensive outreach efforts, Detroit has achieved “essentially 100% participation,” Smalley said. “Before our replacement program began, Gary Brown (director and CEO of Detroit Water & Sewerage Department) told us that we are going to earn the public’s trust and we’re going to make sure we keep it at every step of the way. I think that approach has paid a lot of dividends.”
