The Top Ten Strategies to Reduce Lead Service Line Replacement Costs and Ensure Public Health Protection
With new goals, requirements, and funding for lead service line replacements emerging all the time, it's crucial to make the most of available resources. Here are Safe Water Engineering's top recommendations for maximizing funding and removing more lead service lines from your water system:
Figure 1: Sample Lead Service Line Replacement Cost Breakdown Based on Independent Cost Estimate
1. Develop a Solid Plan: Create a comprehensive lead service line replacement (LSLR) plan by carefully designing your program.
2. Analyze Costs: Identify the unique cost drivers in your community's lead service line replacement process.
3. Fully Fund Replacements: Ensure all full lead service line replacements are fully funded, including replacements under private property.
4. Adopt Ordinances: Adopt and implement local ordinances mandating participation in LSLR programs and promoting full replacements.
5. Minimize Pavement Disturbance: Use construction methods that minimize disruption to pavement.
6. Revisit Pavement Policies: Explore opportunities to revise local pavement policies for efficient paving after LSLR.
7. Streamline Permits: Develop a bulk permit process or dedicate staff to eliminate fees on a per-unit basis.
8. Tailored Traffic Control: Scale traffic control requirements according to the neighborhoods under construction.
9. Effective Contracting: Utilize contracting and bid practices to control costs and drive them down.
10. Transparency: Publish engineers' cost estimates, bids, and invoices to demonstrate spending and celebrate LSLR achievements in the community.
How is your lead service line replacement program progressing in your community? Safe Water Engineering can assist communities in removing all lead service lines while minimizing costs and safeguarding public health. We specialize in designing and evaluating LSLR programs to ensure they're effective and reach the entire community. Our proven methodology helps in planning and reducing lead service line replacement costs.
Our award-winning article, "Benton Harbor Case Study: From Lead Crisis to Lead-Free," showcases how these strategies were successfully implemented to remove all lead service lines from Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Benton Harbor City-Wide Lead Service Line Replacement project recently won the EPA's Excellence in Creative Solutions award.
For more details, check out our recent report, "Lead Service Line Replacement Costs and Strategies for Reducing Them." Contact Safe Water Engineering with the form below and let us assist you in refining your program so you can focus on getting the lead out.
