Lead Service Line Replacement Programs – 2016 to the Present and Beyond

As a result of a LCR exceedance in 2016, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) developed an industry-leading Lead Service Line Replacement (LSLR) program for residential water customers. Since that date, work has been conducted at over 14,300 locations, replacing over 8,300 public and over 5,350 private lead service lines. The program’s focus, replacing PWSA-owned infrastructure while preventing partial service line replacements, has evolved since the start as lessons learned from Pittsburgh and other programs around the United States have been applied. While much work remains to meet PWSA’s goal to remove all lead service lines by 2026, the effort is well on its way.

PWSA’s presentation will provide details of the program development, outreach, customer service, data management and construction. A large focus will be on customer engagement (PWSA cannot do any private side work without the property owner’s permission) and data collection efforts. Proper and detailed data collection is critical, to allow the LSLR activities to be used for service line material updates.

Finally, the presentation will touch on the recently enacted revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule, which changes PWSA’s LSLR program complies with and what will be necessary going forward.

Daniel T. Duffy, P.E. is a Principal of East Woods Consulting and has served as PWSA’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program Manager for over three years. He has both a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, is a registered Professional Engineer in four states including Pennsylvania and has over 31 years of experience in the Northeast United States and in Southeast Asia.