December 2024 Vol. 79 No. 12
Features
Newark resolves water crisis with service line replacement program
By Marcus Elmer
(UI) — As evidence mounted in the 1970s and 1980s about the detrimental effects of lead on the nervous system, Congress banned the use of lead in water pipes in 1986. By 1991, federal regulators began requiring water authorities to monitor lead levels in drinking water. An upper limit of 15 parts per billion (ppb) was established by the EPA, but even this low level of lead caused concern by medical professionals.
Consequently, the current position of the EPA is that there is no safe concentration of lead in drinking water. For many years, it was widely believed that lead from service lines could be kept below the 15-ppb limit through proper control of water chemistry. However, testing and monitoring revealed a different story.
The Newark water crisis began in 2016, when lead concentrations in several public schools were measured at twice the federal limit of 15 ppb. Furthermore, testing of lead in Newark homes revealed that the 15-ppb limit was often exceeded. Alarm bells sounded, and it was realized that it was time to take action to resolve the lead problem once and for all in the Newark community.
A bullet proof plan
The controversy over lead concentration in the Newark drinking water occurred just as the Flint Water Crisis was receiving national attention. Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, with a population of 321,986 − more than three times larger than Flint’s population.
Unlike Flint, Newark’s water supply is derived from huge reservoirs. The source is clean, reliable and provides more than 80 million gallons of water per day to city residents. There was no sudden change of water supply sending lead concentrations soaring. Nonetheless, extensive monitoring revealed that the lead concentrations were too high and that chemical treatments were ineffective. The problem was the service lines between the water mains and Newark residences were more than 100 years old and many were made of lead.
The Newark community, local government officials and technical experts rallied behind a bold and definitive plan to clean up Newark’s drinking water permanently and in short order. All resident of Newark would have safe drinking water delivered to their faucets, with no exceptions. The objective was to replace every lead service line with new copper pipes as quickly as possible.
It was vital to cut through the “red tape” by facilitating building access for water service line replacement. Because more than 70 percent of the people in Newark are renters, it would have been a daunting challenge to obtain written permission from absentee landlords, many of whom did not live in New Jersey.
The city of Newark passed an emergency municipal law that allowed contractors to go on the property and change the water service lines without the property owner's consent. Although that approach may not work in every city, it was a good solution for Newark. Thirdly, the technology, equipment, materials and manpower were put in place to allow the excavation of lead pipes and service lines to be replaced quickly through innovative technologies.
Resolution
Newark set a benchmark for how quickly a major city could replace nearly all its lead service lines. The matter was fully resolved in five years, from the time when the over-the-limit lead concentrations in Newark schools were reported, in 2016, to when practically all the service lines were replaced in 2021.
Excavations began in early 2019, and by spring 2021, nearly 20,000 service lines had been replaced (compared to 7,233 service lines in Flint, Mich.). The job is now considered complete in 2022, just three years after work began. As with other municipalities, the decision was made to use copper for the replacement pipes.
Newark understood the use of copper would be a sustainable solution over the long-term for its durability, reliability and long-lasting qualities. Once the decision was made to use copper, work could begin in earnest, and it did not let up until the main objective of safe drinking water for all was achieved.
The replacement project was initially projected to take up to 10 years, but it proceeded faster than expected, thanks to an infusion of state and local funds and an amendment to state law to protect homeowners from having to bear the cost. Newark’s efforts drew praise from the Natural Resources Defense Council, initially a critic of the handling of the crisis.
According to Eric Olson, NRDC senior resolution strategic director for health, the NRDC is pointing to Newark as a model for other cities to follow. Further, the state of New Jersey made additional headway in the fight against lead piping when in July 2021, Governor Phil Murphy signed a package of laws requiring hundreds of community water systems in the state to replace their lead service lines by 2031.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Copper Development, www.copper.org
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Marcus Elmer is the vice president of the Copper Development Association. He is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in the plumbing and mechanical industries. Elmer leverages his expertise to identify and influence market trends for copper tube and fittings products, driving strategic programs encompassing technical research, codes and standards, advocacy, and education.
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