Hartford, VT: Lead Service Line Inventory and Replacement Plan
May 2024 - March 2025
Public works staff lead a tour of a groundwater pump station in Hartford, Vermont
Community Description
Hartford is a rural community with approximately 10,000 residents dispersed across four villages and served by one of two public water systems - Hartford Water System and Quechee Central - which together have nearly 2,800 service connections. The town’s median household income is just over $61,000, about 85% of the state median. Approximately 9% of residents live below the federal poverty level.
Project Scope
EPIC provided assistance to the Town of Hartford for developing and submitting both Quechee Central and Hartford Water systems’ lead service line (LSL) inventory and replacement plans to comply with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR).
Services Provided
EPIC provided both direct support and contracted professional services to complete Hartford’s LSL inventory. LSL inventories for the town’s two public water systems - Hartford Water System and Quechee Central Water System - received approval from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in March 2025.
Following an in-person site visit, the team determined that a review of historical records was needed to initiate the inventory process. For this phase, EPIC contracted with Hopeworks, an organization that supports career development for young adults in the Philadelphia, PA, and Camden, NJ areas. Hopeworks crews worked remotely to transcribe handwritten service work orders containing essential service line material information. They also reviewed service line photos and compiled a raw database of available utility records. EPIC funded this phase at a cost of $9,717.50.
Next, EPIC deployed management and data science staff to convert multiple datasets into a usable inventory. This process involved merging the raw database with active customer account information from the utility’s billing system. Additional data sources—including installation dates
from county assessor records and findings from previous field inspections—were also integrated, resulting in a complete LSL inventory. EPIC management staff served as the primary point of contact with Vermont DEC throughout the submission and review process, which included four rounds of revisions. EPIC also developed community outreach materials to raise awareness and encourage participation, including a “lead awareness” webpage, flyers, and mailers. To ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, EPIC funded and distributed DEC-approved customer notification letters, with a total material cost of $6,358.93.
In total, 500 hours of EPIC staff time were dedicated to the project. The team included one project manager, one project associate, one data scientist, and one contract consultant.
Challenges and Opportunities
| Type of Challenge | Project Experience | Outcomes and/or Opportunities |
|---|---|---|
| Administration: Records accessibility | Service work orders in various stages of organization. | Opportunity to partner externally for record organization. |
| Technical: Customer billing system | The customer billing system contains errors and inconsistencies. | Updated billing system with standardized address formatting. |
| Labor/Workforce | Limited utility staff, staff turnover. | EPIC provided supplemental labor. |
Project Next Steps
The Town of Hartford’s two water system inventories included a portion of service lines with unknown materials, as well as a small percentage of galvanized lines—both of which require replacement under the LCRR. Moving forward, Hartford will seek assistance from the Vermont Water Investment Division to continue resolving unknowns and to identify resources for replacing galvanized service lines within the system. Although Hartford staff have identified lines that require replacement, it remains uncertain whether the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) is the most appropriate funding mechanism for future replacement activities. A more detailed cost-benefit analysis will be needed to determine the best approach for financing replacement efforts.