MAYORS
Principle 3
Expand Access to Clean Drinking Water for All
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Implement a prioritization strategy
Infants and children are especially vulnerable to lead exposure, making it essential to prioritize replacements where they live, learn, and play. Prioritize replacements at home-based childcare facilities, high-risk neighborhoods, and communities with elevated lead levels in water or residents with elevated blood lead levels. To ensure long-term sustainability and success, replacement programs should acknowledge social and economic challenges, providing support based on the community’s needs.
Locate lead pipes and data gaps
Locate lead pipes and data gaps in your community. Your water utility is required by the US EPA to develop a service line materials inventory, which must be updated annually. This inventory is a helpful place to start when making decisions on where to prioritize lead pipe replacement and will allow you to:
- Identify neighborhoods where lead pipes are concentrated
- Identify neighborhoods with large information gaps
Identify vulnerable and at-risk populations
Identify vulnerable and at-risk populations, with support from your local public health department, to ensure they are prioritized to maximize equitable investments. Some factors to consider while prioritizing vulnerable populations include:
Children
Children are particularly vulnerable to the health effects of lead. Prioritizing lead pipe replacement in places where children live, learn, and play is critical such as child care facilities (particularly home-based facilities) and schools as well as neighborhoods with high numbers of children and families.
Low-income communities and communities of color
Low-income communities and communities of color often face higher risks of lead exposure due to disinvestment, systemic racism, historical injustices such as redlining and segregation, and unequal distribution of resources.
Elevated levels of lead
Elevated levels of lead in water samples indicate water system violations of health and safety standards and may be a sign of failing corrosion control treatment.
Be open to conducting one-off replacements
Be open to conducting one-off replacements in places where the concentration of children’s exposure to lead is high, such as schools and home daycare centers. One-off replacements may also be a good idea when funds are already being invested in lead paint abatement, ensuring that all lead hazards are removed in tandem.
To streamline one-off replacements, consider creating an automatic replacement system for households with high lead levels based on water testing. While one-off replacements will likely be less cost-effective, in certain situations, people may urgently need lead service line replacement, such as households with infants requiring formula feeding.
Conduct inventories and replacements in parallel
Conduct inventories and replacements in parallel. Capitalize on the cost-efficiency of the replacement process improvement early by starting replacements, even if the inventory has unknowns remaining. Do not wait to begin the critical work of replacing known lead pipes to protect public health.
Toolbox
LSLR prioritization plans
LSLR prioritization
Key Action 2
Engage renters on replacement
Lead service line replacement at rental properties comes with unique challenges, including absentee landlords and limited incentives. However, these properties often house children and may pose higher lead exposure risks. Clear communication with tenants about health risks and the replacement process is essential.
Communicate directly with renters
Communicate directly with renters to help people understand the risks posed by lead service lines and what they can expect from the program. Effective communication and coordination with community members are key to a successful replacement program.
Communicating through a diversity of channels, such as bill inserts, social media campaigns, websites, and door-knocking, can help ensure you communicate with the people who are directly affected by lead service lines. This is particularly relevant for many urban communities with a high percentage of renters living in older buildings where lead service lines are suspected, such as New York City and Chicago.
Enable tenant consent for LSLR
Pass local laws that allow renters to provide consent for lead service line replacement (LSLR), particularly if the landlord is not present or unresponsive. Replacing the customer-owned portion of the line typically requires consent from the property owner, usually by signing a formal access form (see: Principle 1, Key Action 3). This can be challenging when landlords are unresponsive or absent, unjustly placing the burden and risk of lead exposure on renters.
Adopt lead pipe disclosure ordinances
Require disclosure of lead service lines (LSLs) at the time of home purchase or rental agreement. Cities should require disclosure or confirmation that the service line is not made of lead during real estate and rental transactions to empower buyers and renters to make informed decisions and facilitate customer engagement (see: Principle 4, Key Action 1).
Toolbox
Door-knocking campaigns
Occupant-permitted access for LSLR
LSL disclosure requirements
Tenant consent forms
Key Action 3
Avoid direct up-front costs to homeowners
Partial replacements often happen when property owners are responsible for costs, typically affecting low-income households and renters who may be reluctant or unable to pay. To prevent increased lead exposure in vulnerable communities, aim for full replacements at no direct cost to property owners.
Ensure lead pipe replacement at no direct cost for all
Ensure lead pipe replacement at no direct cost for all with state legislation and regulatory policies requiring utilities to replace lead service lines at no direct cost to property owners. It is equally important to guarantee utilities can fully fund their programs through utility rate structures, federal and state grants, or dedicated public funding sources (see: Principle 2). Eliminating or minimizing out-of-pocket costs increases customer participation in replacement programs, as property owners are not burdened with financial barriers. This approach helps protect low-income households and communities of color from ongoing lead exposure, ensuring access to safe drinking water regardless of financial circumstances.
Spread costs across your entire ratepayer base
If relying on rates, spread costs across your entire ratepayer base, not just those residential customers with lead service lines. Smaller annual increases to water rates spread across the customer base may be more palatable to customers than requiring the customer or one class of customers to bear the entire cost of the private side replacement. You should also consider how to alleviate the financial burden for low-income and disadvantaged communities (see: Water Utilities’ Roadmap, Principle 2, Key Action 2). However, it is important to determine if any local or state laws would preclude the use of these approaches.
Maximize cost-efficiencies
Maximize cost-efficiencies by coordinating capital improvement projects such as water main replacements (see: Principle 2, Key Action 3), providing incentives to reduce costs, and building a skilled workforce and contractor base (see: Principle 5).
