Lancaster, PA: Lead Service Line Inventory
January 2024 - November 2024
Americorps NCCC Volunteers going door-to-door identifying service line materials
Community Description
The City of Lancaster Water Department provides drinking water to 120,000 people in the City of Lancaster and nine surrounding municipalities. The median household income is $54,145 and the water system has approximately 49,000 connections.
Project Scope
EPIC provided assistance to the City of Lancaster Water Department for developing and submitting a lead service line (LSL) inventory to comply with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR).
Services Provided
Prior to EPIC’s involvement, the City of Lancaster Water Department launched an advertising campaign related to the LSL inventory, encouraging people to self-report the material of their private-side water service lines. The City estimated that it could have as many as 40,000 potential lead or galvanized-requiring replacement lines. The City’s initial advertising campaign resulted in approximately 8,000 self-reported lines, leaving 28,000-32,000 more lines to assess. The nine surrounding municipalities served by the City Water Department were not cooperative with requests for assistance.
EPIC paid $7,301 for a second round of advertising to encourage people to report the material of their lines, resulting in a total of 10,758 self-reported lines. EPIC assisted the City of Lancaster with an application to apply for a team of AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) members. to organize six volunteers for four weeks, who were able to knock on 6,013 doors. The volunteers inspected service lines at 1,366 properties, distributed filters and mitigation information at 25 properties identified as having lead or galvanized service lines, and left informational material on unanswered doors about how the rate payer could self-report their service line. Lastly, EPIC organized a bidding process to identify a service that could verify the self-reported submissions. However, after completing the bidding process and identifying a service provider, the City informed EPIC that it already had an intern complete the verification process and no longer needed the service provider.
Challenges and Opportunities
| Type of Challenge | Project Experience | Outcomes and/or Opportunities |
|---|---|---|
| Labor/Workforce | The City did not have staff available to complete the LSL inventory. Only one staff member was tasked with knocking on doors, and only when his other responsibilities allowed for it. | Utilities can partner with outside organizations like AmeriCorps NCCC, local universities or community based organizations to help fill gaps in staffing.Inventory Resources. |
| Administrative | EPIC unnecessarily completed a bidding process for a service to verify self-reported lines, not knowing that the City had assigned the verification task to one of its interns. Moreover, EPA’s Get the Lead Out program assisted the City during the same time period as EPIC, potentially duplicating efforts related to LSL. | Utilities can consider having a dedicated point of contact to coordinate the efforts of multiple resources to ensure more efficient use of resources and minimize duplication of effort. |
| Governance | LSL inventories are mandated, but they can be costly and complex. There is a lack of funding available to complete these inventories and no incentive to take on debt for them, which was the case in Lancaster. | More grant funding and other financial resources dedicated specifically to LSL inventories should be made available. |
Project Next Steps
The City of Lancaster continues to complete its inventory by identifying more of the private side unknowns. The city was so pleased with the results of the Americorps NCCC team they have applied for another team to continue performing service line surveys. As the city continues its inventory efforts it is working on an application to replace identified lead lines so far. Lancaster is receiving assistance for this part of the project from its consultant CDM Smith.