The Garage Delivers Lead Pipe Survey Results in Avondale, PA
By Christina Petagna & Valerie Nguyen
With 350 connections, Avondale, Pennsylvania, is serviced by a small water utility that struggled to comply with the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions' (LCRR) inventory requirement. The utility’s management team did not have the capacity to survey private-side service lines—the portion of the pipe connecting the water main to the house. These lines lie entirely on private property and are not accessible to most municipal employees without explicit permission from the homeowner.
The Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), in partnership with the Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania and Avondale Borough, contracted The Garage, a local after-school youth development program, to develop and conduct a lead service line (LSL) survey. With help from Garage students who live in the community, the partnership identified over 85% of private-side ahead of the October 16, 2024, federal inventory deadline. Engaging local youth was key to Avodale’s LSL inventory success.
What Is The Garage?
Avondale Borough is a small community in southeastern Pennsylvania, where the median household income is $78,125, and 62% list Spanish as their primary language. Just three individuals—the Borough Treasurer, the Borough Clerk, and a Department of Public Works employee—manage the water utility. The majority of homes were built before Pennsylvania banned lead in plumbing, placing many Borough residents at risk of lead exposure through drinking water. With the October 2024 deadline for submitting a lead service line inventory approaching, the utility lacked the staff capacity for door-to-door surveying and designing an outreach campaign to reach residents, especially non-English speaking residents.
The Garage is an after-school youth development program serving middle and high school students in southern Chester County. In 2022, it opened a location in Avondale, PA, where it offers a space to connect students with their community while helping them succeed academically and prepare for life after high school, equipping them with the tools to thrive in any path they choose.
What Was the Need?
In 2024, Christina Petagna, EPIC’s Funding Navigator Mid-Atlantic Manager, began working with Avondale to provide technical assistance in complying with the LCRR LSL inventory deadline. EPIC was brought in as a partner by the Water Center at the University of Pennsylvania to support this effort. Avondale had a key challenge: how to survey the community—and who would conduct it.
To address this challenge, EPIC contracted The Garage to lead its students in developing bilingual educational materials explaining the risk of lead service lines and the purpose of the survey. The students also conducted door-to-door outreach to all households and co-facilitated bilingual town halls to prepare the community for the canvassing campaign.
Results Delivered Through Partnership
From February 2024 to August 2024, The Garage delivered outstanding results. Students created a bilingual website, flyers, door hangers, and town hall postcard notifications in English and Spanish. They also co-facilitated the two town halls alongside EPIC and the Borough and carried out the door-to-door canvassing campaign to collect inventory data. Agustin Espinosa-Ortiz, a former Garage student and then-senior at Millersville University, led the project and canvassing efforts. He also led the Spanish-language town hall and translated its materials and transcript.
The Garage’s student-led outreach proved:
Student-driven outreach raised community awareness of LSLs. As students developed educational materials and learned about LSLs, they discussed the project with their families and friends, raising community awareness and familiarity with the survey process.
Targeted canvassing resulted in high community engagement. The initial mailers sent out prompted strong community interest, with the Borough receiving many inquiries on the survey process. The door-to-door canvassing campaign reached 300 out of 350 households—over 85% of the Borough’s service area.
No lead service lines identified, but solder connections prompted further review. While the students confirmed that there were no lead service lines in the service area, some lines had lead-containing solder connections that may require further replacement.
What’s Next for LSL Surveys and Workforce Development
The partnership was a win-win for Avondale Borough and its residents. The water utility met the LSL inventory deadline, and students from The Garage were able to effect positive change in their community. Several Garage students were heavily involved in the project, giving them exposure to careers in the water sector.
This success offers a valuable model for small water utilities with limited staff and resources. Water utilities should think creatively about which tasks can be delegated. High school students without technical certifications successfully carried out the community outreach needed to complete this inventory and contributed significantly to success in a community where English is not the primary language. By involving the community, Avondale bridged the gap between its capacity and its goals—demonstrating that communities can find the next generation of water professionals in their own backyard. With community partnerships, utilities across the country can accelerate lead service line replacement and help ensure safe drinking water for all.