Iowa American Water making progress on EPA mandate, with nearly 1,300 lead service lines replaced so far
Iowa American Water has successfully replaced almost 1,300 customer-owned lead and galvanized steel water service lines to date as part of its ongoing lead service line replacement program, the company announced. This achievement is a significant step forward in meeting requirements of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) mandate for all water providers in the country to replace both utility-owned and customer-owned lead and galvanized service lines in the next several years.
"The considerable progress we’ve made in just three years demonstrates our unwavering commitment to modernizing water infrastructure and protecting public health,” said Brad Nielsen, President, Iowa American Water. “We intend to meet these regulatory requirements and set the standard for proactive lead mitigation in Iowa. While our water remains safe due to our proactive treatment measures and ongoing testing, our work is far from over, and we need our customers' continued cooperation to work with us to identify remaining lead service lines."
While Iowa American Water might only own part of the service line – or none of it at all – all utilities are responsible under USEPA regulations for identifying and ultimately replacing any that are made of lead.
Earlier this year, Iowa American Water launched a robust, interactive web-based map and is encouraging customers to visit its website to learn how to self-identify their service line material. Customers can click on the map and enter their address in the “Search by Address” field. The map will zoom in on the address. The user can then click the circular symbol and see listed the material of the service line on both the utility and customer side, as it is known to the company. If the customer-owned side’s pipe material is shown as unknown, customers are encouraged to help identify it and report that information to the company using the self-reporting survey link provided in the pop-up window. The company also developed a short video showing how to use the map.
“Our goal in creating this webpage and map is to proactively and transparently communicate to customers not only information about their service line material, but also what we do to help provide water that meets all regulations, ways they can help reduce their potential exposure to lead, and how they can participate in our lead service line replacement program at no direct cost to them,” added Nielsen. “We are committed to continue our program to identify and replace all lead service lines, and we need our customers’ cooperation to help us identify and remove lead service lines for their health, safety and peace of mind.”
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