This graphic shows how water utilities should classify utility-owned and customer-owned components of water lines when during inventories of their systems, including whether its lead or non-lead pipes.
Submitted graphic | EPA
The town of Bargersville was awarded $150,000 from the Indiana Finance Authority to assist with locating and replacing lead service lines.
Last year, a $25,000 grant helped the town with an initial assessment where they evaluated data of records the water utility had on hand. There are still 3,468 households that have unknown service line materials, meaning they do not know what they are made from.
Lead service lines are pipes that connect a building’s plumbing to the water main under a street. Federal officials have set a goal of replacing 100% of lead service lines over the next decade.
Being a growing community has benefited the location and replacement process because most homes were built after the Safe Drinking Water Act banned lead pipes in 1987, said Kevin Killinger, the town’s utility superintendent.
So far, Bargersville has found no lead service lines within its system, Killinger said.
Officials are using tax records and field work to locate potential lead service lines. When tax records can’t help, workers use hydro-excavating in the field to assist, but it can be costly. The process uses pressurized water to break up the soil and industrial vacuums to remove it, according to Pro-VAC, a Washington state-based advanced full-service storm/sewer maintenance and environmental service company.
The IFA grant will help with the town’s hydro-excavation needs, one of the last few steps the town has to complete to have a full inventory. Initial inventories are required to be submitted to the state by Oct. 16.
Officials will kick off a meeting this week to go through their roughly 3,400 meters and identify the service line materials to further reduce the number of unknowns within the system.
If a lead service line is located, the town will work with the homeowner to replace the line, Killinger said.
The most common sources of lead in drinking water are lead pipes and brass or bronze faucets and fixtures. Lead can enter drinking water when plumbing materials that contain it corrode. Many factors including water temperature, the amount of water in pipes and how long the water stays in pipes can allow lead to enter drinking water. Lead pipes are more likely to be found in older cities and homes built before 1986, according to the EPA.
There is no safe level of lead, according to the EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Bargersville’s utility is not the only one working locally to identify and replace lead service lines. Indiana American Water has invested $97 million into a lead service line replacement project, with the goal to remove or replace the approximately 30,000 lead pipes throughout their service area, which includes several Johnson County communities.
Indiana American Water plans to replace 54% of its lead service lines, the utility said in a news release. The utility estimates that there were as many as 55,000 lead service lines in use just a few years ago in its service areas across the state, with about two-thirds of those located in northwest Indiana.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule last November that would require water systems to replace lead service lines within 10 years. Utilities must provide an initial inventory of their lead service lines by Oct. 16, with customers being notified within 30 days of that date if they have lead service lines.
Indiana lawmakers also passed a bill this past legislative session accelerating the replacement of lead drinking water lines.
Learn how to find lead service lines in your home by following the EPA’s Protect your Tap guide or Indiana American Water’s Quick Guide to determining service line material.
Daily Journal news editor Noah Crenshaw contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This story originally said Indiana American Water allocated $97, but it was corrected to say $97 million.
