Welcome to the Association of State Drinking Water Administrator’s �Lead Service Line Inventory Symposium�

Lead Service Line Inventory Symposium�Session 5 – Water System Inventory Case Studies

J. Alan Roberson, P.E.

ASDWA Executive Director

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS

• Please note that ASDWA is unable to offer CEUs or completion certificates for this symposium.
• ASDWA will not be able to provide technical support for GoToWebinar during the session. If you have issues with a lagging video or sound, please check your broadband connection. We recommend closing all other applications to maximize your bandwidth.
• All sessions will be recorded and will be available later on ASDWA’s website should you have connection issues or if you miss a session.
• Each session will include at least 30 minutes for question and answers, so please type your questions into the chat box and we will bring those up in the discussion portion.

Now available for download on our website:

• ASDWA’s LSL Inventory Framework
• LSL Inventory Template

​

​

www.asdwa.org/lead-and-copper-rule-lcr/

SYMPOSIUM OVERVIEW��Morning Webinars�11:00 AM-12:30 PM EST��Afternoon Webinars�3:00 PM-4:30 PM EST��Recordings and slide decks will be available on the event page:�www.asdwa.org/event/lead-service-line-inventory-symposium/�

WHAT THIS SYMPOSIUM…

IS

• A starting point for the drinking water community to begin developing inventories
• An introduction to adaptive management
• Shared experiences from states and water systems
• Discover opportunities to further the discussion on inventories

IS NOT

• About EPA’s inventory guidance
• The final word on inventories or specific inventory requirements
• Questions will remain for how states should/will implement rule
• A forum for answering every possible question about inventories
• Not planning to develop a set of FAQS
• Not planning to answer state-specific questions
• A forum to debate LCRR or LCRI

SESSION 5 SPEAKERS

• Maureen Schmelling, DC Water
• Jeff Swertfeger, Greater Cincinnati Water Works
• Alexis Woodrow, Denver Water
• Joseph Lanzafame, New London Department of Public Utilities
• Tom Barger, South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority
• Suzanne Grendahl, Scottsdale Water

​

Maureen Schmelling,

DC Water

Greater Cincinnati Water Works�Inventory Building

Jeff Swertfeger

Superintendent

Water Quality and Treatment Division

lead.mygcww.org

Our System

• 1.1 Million population, 2 states
• Approx 240,000 service lines
• 39,165 Lead lines
• 100 on public side only
• 13,085 full lead lines
• 25,980 private side only

​

lead.mygcww.org

Our History – Great Records (thanks great great grandpa)

• 1837 – First numbered service branch
• 1927 - Branch #101808 – Last lead branch installed
• 1970 – Started organized main replacement program
• 1992 – LCR began focus on lead inventory and removal
• 2000 – Big program to put branch material into GIS
• 2016 – Enhanced Lead Program – private side info needed in GIS

​

​

​

lead.mygcww.org

Enhanced lead program 2016

• Specific focus on public communication and lead removal
• Needed great records of both sides to truly engage community
• Needed to point out where

lead is and who has it.

• Encouraged and partially

funded private side lead

removal

​

​

​

lead.mygcww.org

Developing private side inventory

• Build on good public side inventory
• Assume all private branches lead before #101808 (1927)
• Unless had records saying otherwise - conservative
• Active branches
• >2 inches
• Water main replacement reports (what did we couple to)
• Work orders showing private side replaced when we did our side
• Inspected private side replacement
• Took about 2 months of 4 people working Saturdays and focused time weekdays to review records in 2016

101,808

39,165

Continually updating records

• A lot of focus on identifying private side
• Main replacement
• Our other field work
• Line replacements
• Customer self identification
• Future meter replacements

​

lead.mygcww.org

Customer reporting

• Verify in house and pothole if doesn’t match records

​

lead.mygcww.org

Side benefits of inventory

• Notified customers by letter
• Lookup map
• Talk to our customers
• Coordinate with public health efforts
• Notify customers of disruptions
• Provide filters to protect health
• More accurate main replacement bids
• Prepared to immediately use infrastructure money

​

​

​

lead.mygcww.org

Thank you

Jeff Swertfeger

Jeff.Swertfeger@cincinnati-oh.gov

lead.mygcww.org

��LSLI Development�ASDWA LSLI Symposium�February 16, 2022

Date here

Lead Service Lines (LSLs)

• In Denver Water’s service area, the entire service line is owned by the property owner
• Lead pipe was commonly used until 1951, banned altogether in 1971
• Estimate between 63,000-82,000 lead service lines

Developing the LSL inventory- water quality testing

​

• Offer free testing to all customers since May 2016
• Kits shipped to customer address and include:
• 3 1-L bottles
• Instructions
• Bags
• COC card

​

Why water quality data?

�

Developing the LSL inventory- data review

• Multiple data sources
• Customer records
• Water quality data
• Multiple parameters
• Year build
• Tap date
• Main install date

Developing the LSL inventory- preliminary assumptions

• Logic rules applied to sort service lines into 5 categories:
• Known LSL – 100% direct evidence documenting lead.
• Suspected LSL – 80% or higher likelihood of lead, based upon available data (i.e., homes built prior to 1951).
• Possible LSL – 50% or higher likelihood of lead, as some data may be conflicting or missing but there is not enough information to confirm a non-lead service line.
• Unlikely LSL – <10% very low likelihood of lead.
• Non-lead – 100% direct evidence or statistically defensible factors supporting categorization as a non-lead service line

The probability represents the uncertainty in our knowledge of the service line material and is captured as a “p-value” that is assigned based on known construction practices, historical records, expert judgement, and data interpretation.

​

Public inventory map

Refining the inventory- learning by doing

Developing the LSL inventory- using a predictive model

• A tool that looks for patterns in the data to predict material designations (non-lead or lead).
• Statistically driven. 
• The purpose is to refine the inventory and prioritize replacements.
• Emphasizes learning and prioritizing around equity and replacing lead for vulnerable populations.
• The predictive model alone is not used to change existing probability values in the inventory.

​

​

​

​

​

​

Predictive Model Testing, Training and Outputs

Model Development

• Training and validation of discrete data to generate predictions.
• As of January 2022, used 16,000 data points for learning.

Material Estimates

• Provides a different perspective on lead in the system than the inventory.
• Provides increased granularity on the likelihood of finding lead.
• Uses a continuous feedback loop based on learning from the field.

Observations

• Lead and non-lead estimates align with the inventory.
• Investigations focus to refine the remaining service lines.
• Predictive model assists in identifying the true location of these services.

​

Conclusion- Next steps

• Model is continuously updated with field data.
• Supports the long-term maintenance of the inventory.
• Helps to target investigations.
• Supports replacement activities and prioritization to serve disproportionately impacted communities.

Thank you.

Lead Service Line Inventory Approach City of New London Connecticut

30

16 February 2022

CITY OF NEW LONDON

CONNECTICUT

Process Description for Inventory Development

31

16 February 2022

Historical Records Review – Useful Data Sources

32

Historical Service Valve Cards Contain Utility Side Information

33

16 February 2022

Address

Date Laid

Service Size

Service Material

FRONT OF CARD

BACK OF CARD

Service Valve Cards Identified Potential Utility-Owned Lead Lines�

No historical customer-owned service line material records are available

​

34

16 February 2022

Field Investigations to Verify Customer Service Line Material

35

16 February 2022

• Physical inspection conducted at 150 sites of unknown material
• 26 Confirmed Lead (17%)
• 1 Confirmed Galvanized
• Challenges
• 21% Resident Resistance to Testing
• 3% Covid Concerns
• 11% Uncomfortable with In Home Testing
• 6% Renters requiring Landlord Permission
• 2% Meters not accessible

​

​

Lead/Galvanized

Not Lead

3. Identify Inventory Elements and Format

Best practices for inventory development and data management:

• Reduce duplicate information (i.e., store asset information in GIS and customer account information, like address, in billing system)
• Use a unique identifier to tie data together
• Track the utility and customer side of service line separately (separate assets)
• Limit the amount text fields in GIS/databases (numerical values preferred)
• Include and document all available sources by adding a source value
• Maintain historical data (original/previous material and size), preferably in a separate source/file
• Develop a dashboard or database to maintain current information from all available sources

​

36

Inventory Next Steps

37

16 February 2022

Inventory Next Steps

38

16 February 2022

Develop and Continuously Update Inventory

​

• Inventory is not static
• Use dashboard or database to ‘query’ results in near real time and perform QC checks

39

16 February 2022

Challenges Associated with Service Line Inventory Development

ASDWA Symposium

February 16, 2022

​

Tom Barger,

Manager, Water Quality

Regional Water Authority

New Haven, Connecticut

RWA Service Area

C O N N E C T I C U T

Inventory Data Challenges

​

• Lead Service Lines – Expanding Definition
• Inconsistency of Data from Multiple Sources
• Interpretation of Data Lingo/Abbreviations
• What percentage of missing/available information is acceptable to you and your regulator to provide a level of confidence ?
• Use existing infrastructure
• Available Time – Value of Time

​

​

Suzanne Grendahl, Water Quality Director

Proving a Negative

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Phoenix Metro

• Scottsdale is located in the Phoenix metro area,is the 7^th largest city in Arizona and is located within the Sonoran Desert.

​

• Typical annual temperatures range from 45-107°, with extremes as low as 32° and as high as 122°. In 2020 we had 53 days over 110°

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

• Incorporated in 1951, Population 2,000
• Scottsdale Water was established in 1971 involving the eventual purchase of over 15 private water companies and the portion of Phoenix system within Scottsdale
• Population in 2021: ~245,000
• 184.5 square miles
• 31 miles long
• Elevation change 3,727 feet
• 2021 average water delivery: 69 million gallons/day

​

About Scottsdale

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Distribution System Statistics

• Miles of main lines: 2,144
• Service Connections: ~93,500
• 83,000 Single-family residential
• 4,500 Multifamily residential
• 6,000 Commercial, nonresidential
• 18 major pressure zones
• Two surface water sources, approximately 20 groundwater wells, most of which are treated/blended for arsenic mitigation or part of a federal
• 8 EPDSs

​

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Public Service Connections

• Water meter located at property line in meter vault
• Historically have never uncovered any lead lines.
• Known Materials
• Copper - 89%
• Plastic – 6%
• Galvanized/unknown – 5%
• Proactive galvanized replacement program over last 25 years
• Replaced over 3,500 lines

​

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Private Service Connections

• Do not expect to find any lead lines
• City is young
• Never found any lead on public side of meter.
• 93,500 Unknowns
• ~45,000 built prior to 1987
• Over 3,500 “galvanized needing replacement”
• Insufficient record keeping with galvanized replacement program. Cannot prove material other than staff historical knowledge

​

​

​

​

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Need Guidance from State

• Can we limit inventory to only services prior to 1988?
• Visual inspection at meter box on public and private side, as well as building hose bib?
• Photos required?
• Is assurance from multiple long- term staff, that lines replaced under galvanized replacement program were not lead, enough to classify those replaced lines as non-lead?

​

​

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Inventory budget and contract

​

• Requesting significant funding in capital budget to hire contractor to perform material inventory
• Adding FTE to coordinate all LCRR requirements

​

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Planned Approach

• Start with unknowns on public side
• Move on to properties starting oldest to newest
• Plan to do visual inspection at meter box on public and private side, as well as building hose bib?
• Hope to have definitive guidance from state before we get to homes built after 1987-1988 timeframe. Hope physical inventory will not be necessary.
• If we find any lines that are not obvious, will do further investigation

​

​

​

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Mapping of Inventory

Started creation of map using ArcGIS/Esri that shows each service line by parcel reflecting both public and private side.

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Future Replacement Program

​

• Do not expect to find, therefore replace, any lead lines
• Will continue galvanized program until all public services are replaced.
• Depending on state guidance, may have “galvanized needing replacement” lines on private side
• Hope to be able to fund some/all of these replacements but need to complete survey first and determine a timeline.

​

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

What if we find a lead line?

​

Public Side

• Funds can be made available and/or budgeted for replacement
• Coordinate with property owner for “immediate” replacement of both sides of meter.
• Timeframe would be dependent on number identified.

Private Side

• Current discussions have centered around a rebate program or covering full cost.
• Restriction on uses of public funds – “gift” clause
• Private property rights issues – will need access/permission agreement with property owner.
• Need to identify qualified plumber to do work
• May need to consider incentives to encourage replacements if resistance is met

​

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Questions?

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

Suzanne Grendahl

480-312-8732

sgrendahl@scottsdaleaz.gov

Water Sustainability through Stewardship, Innovation and People

QUESTIONS?

Join us for our next session!��Morning Webinars�11:00 AM-12:30 PM EST��Afternoon Webinars�3:00 PM-4:30 PM EST��Recordings and slide decks will be available on the event page:�www.asdwa.org/event/lead-service-line-inventory-symposium/�