Chelsea, MA: Lead Service Line Replacement
January 2024 - October 2024
Chelsea’s LSL Dashboard
Community Description
The City of Chelsea is the second most densely populated City in Massachusetts and is home to a highly diverse population of approximately 40,000 residents. The majority of residents are non-White and non-English speaking, and approximately 34% live below the poverty line.
Project Scope
EPIC contracted for and advised on services to develop both consolidated data systems for lead service line (LSL) replacements and field applications to support Chelsea staff during construction activities.
Services Provided
EPIC began work with the City of Chelsea in 2021 after the community was identified through EPIC’s Lead Free Water Challenge as having a significant number of LSLs in its water distribution system. To estimate the number of service lines requiring replacement, EPIC conducted a review of historical records. In partnership with 120Water, EPIC facilitated the transcription of historic tie cards containing service line material information and converted this data into a digital format to support the development of an initial inventory, consulting with the team at 120Water to transcribe historic tie cards with the necessary service line material information. Chelsea subsequently used this digital inventory to submit a funding application to the Massachusetts Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) for LSL investigation.
Following the SRF award, EPIC re-engaged with Chelsea staff in 2024 to support planning for construction and contracting activities. As part of this effort, EPIC contracted the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s Center for Geospatial Solutions (CGS) for $46,895 to consolidate additional historical data discovered after the initial inventory. With Chelsea’s contractor selection process complete and new staff in place, CGS also developed a tool to integrate with the city's LSL inventory—enabling field technicians to upload data and submit field verifications for approval by construction managers.
Challenges and Opportunities
| Type of Challenge | Project Experience | Outcomes and/or Opportunities |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative | Digitizing and transcribing historic records was a costly and time consuming component of the initial effort to create a LSL inventory. | Grant programs generally do not have sufficient flexibility to allow for record digitization. There is value in lawmakers considering grant options for municipalities to share digitization resources for long-term records retention or using new technologies for record transcription. |
| Labor/Workforce | Chelsea required technical expertise and sufficient time to consolidate multiple LSL inventory databases. | Staff with experience in asset management should be essential personnel for most municipalities. A city the size of Chelsea should invest in sufficient technical support to take on major capital projects such as the LSL replacement work in this case. |
| Technical | Field crews needed a customized web application for collecting and verifying data taken while replacing lead service lines. Chelsea’s software system did not have this capability prior to EPIC’s investment | States requiring this information for purposes of inventory verification should have also prepared a singular tool for use among all water systems to allow for continued data collection and recording in a State database. |
Project Next Steps
Chelsea is moving forward with its LSL replacement activities. The City’s success is a testament to its talented and dedicated staff, who coordinated effectively with state agencies, engineering consultants, and technical assistance providers to secure funding and implement construction activities. This project highlights both the time and cost required to execute infrastructure projects that rely heavily on data from extensive historical records. It also underscores the broader value of supporting municipal digitization efforts as part of long-term planning and compliance strategies.