Resources:
Sarah Rigg's Feature Article: Initiative aims to identify lead plumbing in Ypsi-area homes
Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority (YCUA)
Testing for Lead in Drinking Water in Washtenaw County
Transcription:
Rylee Barnsdale: You're listening to 89 one WEMU. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. The Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority has a mission to provide top quality, cost effective and environmentally safe water and wastewater services to Ypsilanti residents, while also keeping them up to date on water quality throughout the community. Today, I'm here with YCUA executive director Luke Blackburn to discuss one of their most recent ongoing initiatives to inform residents about the quality of their water and what steps to take if the quality can be improved. Thanks so much for being here!
Luke Blackburn: Thanks for having me, Rylee!

Rylee Barnsdale: So, could you start just by explaining what the main goals of YCUA's "Get the Lead Out" initiative are and how this program is connecting to this broader national effort to reduce lead exposure in homes everywhere?
Luke Blackburn: Absolutely! The authority was fortunate enough over the summer to be selected as one of 200 utilities across the nation to participate in that "Get the Lead Out" initiative, which is through the Environmental Protection Agency, provides technical assistance to the authority for lead service line identifications, community outreach, which included door knocking, some public campaigns to talk to homeowners about the impacts of lead service lines, what information we need from homeowners. One of the things we have been reaching out to homeowners about is getting in their house and actually confirming the material of the water service line just as it enters the home and before the water meter. Through various regulations, we're required for that additional point of verification. We do some verification out in the road outside of the home, but, actually, the third point of verification actually has to be inside the home. This has also been in cooperation with a state grant that we have to do these identifications. And what its need is this inventory has been taking place over the last couple of years, so that water utilities, such as YCUA, can strategize a work plan to ensure that we are replacing lead service lines. We've been doing that through various capital improvement project programs through the last few years. Anybody who drives around to the city of Ypsilanti the last couple of years may have seen a few roads tore up around campus and so forth. So, as we're making water main improvements, we're also identifying and replacing those lead service lines. But that doesn't capture everything. We still have one-offs where there's not capital improvement projects being planned in the near future, and we need to replace those lines also.

Rylee Barnsdale: The YCUA website and YCUA in general ensures folks that the drinking water provided by YCUA to homes is entirely safe. And as you mentioned, the pipes themselves could pose a risk. Can you kind of clarify how these leaded pipes can cause these issues and what those steps are to address these problems? You mentioned too checking the pipes themselves. But I'm sure it goes much deeper than that.
Luke Blackburn: Absolutely! Where there's a misnomer, sometimes a misconception, is that there's actually lead in the water being supplied by YCUA or we actually receive our water. YCUA does not have a water treatment facility. So, we purchase water through the Great Lakes Water Authority and distribute that water to our community. Where the impacts of lead actually come in is actually in the water service lines--the private water service lines--from our water mains to a homeowner, for example. And what happens is sometimes older homes have been built with different water line materials, such as galvanized or lead service lines. Lead service lines over time can leach lead as that material corrodes. And then, that lead ends up in the water supply to the home. Galvanized service lines also can either previously be made of a zinc coating that contains some amount of lead and/or maybe have a lead lining to themselves. And depending on, over time, corrosiveness of the water or corrosion of any type of mineral buildup can leach that material in. So, it's not coming from the water. It's actually coming from the material in the water service line. Since the mid to late '90s, the Great Lakes Water Authority, which is where the city and township receives water from essentially, has been doing corrosion control, which is they add orthophosphate. Basically it's water protection, right? It provides this protective layer on the water service line and coats it, so that these metals cannot leach out into the water. But as post-Flint, there's definitely been much more attention to the concentrations of lead.
Rylee Barnsdale: Sure.
Luke Blackburn: And over the summer, in cooperation with Great Lakes Water Authority, our community is receiving an increased dosage of orthophosphate, so that we ensure that that layer is intact--that protective layer is intact--to ensure that these metals are not leaching into the water supply for the homeowner. And we sample that water fairly routinely from different homes that have lead service lines to ensure that that protective coating is doing what it's supposed to do.

Rylee Barnsdale: And for homeowners that maybe are concerned about the potential of this leaching of lead into the water that they're using in their homes, what are the kinds of resources and assistance that YCUA provides specifically to these homeowners? And what are the kinds of steps they can take to get started in ensuring that the water in their home is safe?
Luke Blackburn: So, the first step, I would say to any homeowner is, one, do you know what the service line material is for your waterline? If you don't, you can go to our website and look it up or you can call YCUA at 734-484-4600. And we will help you identify what that water service line is for your home. If you have a lead service line or galvanized line that may have been previously connected to lead or have some type of lead components to it, we will walk the homeowner through some of the protections that they can take to minimize lead exposure. We'll also identify that property for when we can get that Led service line or galvanized line replaced. We have various informational packets and resources that we can send to the homeowner and work with them to ensure that, if they have a lead service line, that they're taking the appropriate precautions to minimize any impacts.
Rylee Barnsdale: Could you speak to the potential financial burden of maybe having to go in and replace those pipes? You know, are there programs or things in place either with YCUA itself or maybe even at the state and federal level that folks can take advantage of if those are the steps they need to take?
Luke Blackburn: Absolutely. It is definitely a large financial burden on all water utilities, especially YCUA. Historically speaking, water service lines on private property were the responsibility of homeowners. Post-Flint, the regulatory environment has changed. And now, water utilities, through various new federal and state rules, are required to replace those water service lines if their lead service lines are galvanized or previously connected to lead. And that has definitely forced utilities like YCUA to be more active in federal and state funding grants, technical assistance programs. As I mentioned earlier, YCUA was successful in receiving a state grant. We call it TMF grant, or technical managerial and financial grant. That was for $600,000 to help perform that inventory. As part of the technical assistance program through EPA's Get the Lead Out initiative, they're assisting us in additional inventory and public outreach. The authority recently also submitted a grant application to EPA for another grant for actual lead service line replacements. We have been taking, say, a multifaceted approach to trying to fund and replace these lines, either through our normal operating revenues or through state and federal funding as we perform capital improvement projects, as I mentioned earlier, when we're tearing up the local roads, which we apologize in advance for. As those water mains are being replaced, if we identify lines that are lead or galvanized lines that need to be replaced, we're doing that while that construction is ongoing. But we're still left with a significant number of homes that are not part of these capital improvement projects that we still need to plan. We have purchased new equipment, trained our staff and are performing some of those as just one-offs as our staff can handle. While the authority is required to replace, under the new rules, at least 10% of the lead service lines in our system every year, with the goal being to be lead-free within ten years. At the current schedule, I think the authority will be finished much sooner than that. But the more assistance we can get, the more it'll be better for our community.
Rylee Barnsdale: This is WEMU's On the Ground Ypsi. I'm talking with executive director of the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority, Luke Blackburn. So, you mentioned some of the potential future initiatives and projects or fund seeking that the YCUA is doing in order to hopefully reach that goal of having all lead free piping by, as you said in ten years.

Luke Blackburn: In ten years.
Rylee Barnsdale: Potentially even sooner, depending on how things go.
Luke Blackburn: Absolutely!
Rylee Barnsdale: How does the YCUA plan to maintain this level of standards that you are, you know, reaching for?
Luke Blackburn: Absolutely! I think, since the founding of YCUA, we've been very customer-centric.
Rylee Barnsdale: Right.
Rylee Barnsdale: As a local water provider, we want to make sure that we're 100% transparent in the water quality it provides to our homeowners and also helping them understand the the significant needs that we have in our capital infrastructure. YCUA maintains and operates well over $1 billion worth of infrastructure in our community through water main, sewer mains, pump stations, storage tanks, the large regional wastewater treatment plant. So, the capital investment needs for the authority are substantial. I think communicating to the public what those needs are and having open lines of communication is vital to ensure the community knows what's important when we're coming to ask for rate increases or bonds and that they understand that there's a purpose for that.
Rylee Barnsdale: Well, thank you so much for being here today, Luke! Thank you for the work YCUA does to ensure folks are not just informed about lead and potential exposure, but also that they have the resources they need to take care of their homes. And if YCUA doesn't have the resources right at hand, they know who to talk to and who to connect folks to.

Luke Blackburn: Thank you for having us on! And just please reach out! We're available to assist!
Rylee Barnsdale: For more information on today's topic and links to the full article, visit our website at wemu.org. On the Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Rylee Barnsdale, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti. Celebrating 60 years of broadcasting at Eastern Michigan University!
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