City of Abilene seeking $13 million grant for lead service line replacement program

ABILENE, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC ) — The City of Abilene is seeking $13 million in financial assistance from the Texas Water Development Board to implement a lead service line replacement program.

It’s a federal mandate that the City of Abilene takes inventory of all lead lines or connections in the water system. The water department said there is no problem with lead on the city side, but there could potentially be some connections in the private plumbing system, meaning your home or business. The city has identified 2,600 connections in the private sector in Abilene.

Lead and copper were used to build homes, mostly before 1992. Guidelines to protect consumers have been around for a long time, but they have been reevaluated and changed over the years. Before 1991, lead was measured from a sample pulled from the entry point. In 1991, that rule was changed to test for lead from residential homes and businesses to have a more accurate read. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , it also “ established a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) of zero for lead in drinking water and a treatment technique to reduce corrosion of lead and copper within the distribution system .”

“The facilities had to utilize a control to make sure that water was not corrosive in nature. The idea was that if there was water in contact with lead, then the corrosion control program would protect the consumer. The reality is that that rule is not effective,” Rodney Taylor, Director of Water Utilities, said. “So, move forward 30 years, and the lead and copper rule revision came out, which is what we are under right now. It required the water providers, such as the City of Abilene, to conduct an inventory of all the service lines serving every connection within the system.”

Over the past year and a half, the city staff has been working on a program to prepare the inventory for submission to the EPA by August 16. They also need to notify each affected connection identified as having a lead or galvanized service line that cannot be proven not to have had a lead connection.

The City of Abilene is compliant with the revised lead and copper rule, and a new improvement to the rule has been proposed.

“It expands on that and puts the burden of correcting lead piping in public and/or private plumbing on the water provider. So, the City of Abilene Water Utility is now responsible for the lead pipes and lead plumbing fixtures within its system,” Taylor shared. “All of this is to protect health. The lead service line replacement program is an essential part of the responsibility moving forward to protect public health from lead and copper. We do not foresee a major issue in Abilene so far.”

He mentioned that currently, 51% of the potential $13 million grant will essentially be given to the city, requiring the city to issue a debt for 49% of the $13 million.

The city will launch a web-based portal on October 16. People can enter their addresses to check if their houses are affected. The city is also required to inform them in writing about any potential hazards. A $13 million grant has been allocated for the project, and the work will mainly be carried out by private plumbers.

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