Evanston could step up credit incentives to encourage private lead pipe replacement
City officials didn’t have many takers in 2017 when they offered homeowners an interest-free loan to replace the cost of replacing the lead lines on the water supply lines that run from the city’s aqueduct to their homes.
“In the three years that this loan program has been available,” noted Dave Stoneback, the city’s public works director, in a February 8 memo to the city council, “a total of 301 water pipes have been replaced as part of the water supply.” Main replacement program, but only 21 loans were made. This suggests that only about 7% of property owners take advantage of the loan program. “
New incentives in the loan program
The city council hopes to improve this response. At the City Council meeting on February 9th, Mr. Stoneback unveiled a new employee loan incentive program for city councils to consider.
Mr Stoneback said a regulation will be put in place at the next city council meeting to change the current loan program. After the ordinance is passed, the city water department will contact the property owners about the program and invite them to a meeting.
The proposed changes included:
- Increase in loan amount currently set at $ 4,800 to cover total plumbing costs for replacing property owner’s stake in senior service line;
- Give the property owner more time to pay off the loan. Currently, the loan has to be paid back at $ 100 per month (offset as $ 200 off the bimonthly water bill) within four years, noted Mr. Stoneback.
The staff’s proposal recommends keeping the repayment amount the same, but borrowing more than $ 4,800 will give the homeowner more time to repay the loan, he said.
Additionally, the changes would take into account those property owners who are considered “economically disadvantaged,” and potentially determine different solvency capacities, he said.
Worry since the Flint Crisis
The city’s first program came amid national concerns over the 2014 water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Lead is a toxic metal and, according to US Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, can be harmful to health at low levels of exposure.
Corrosive water drawn from the Flint River came in contact with the lead water pipes used in that town, causing lead to get into drinking water, resulting in lead readings in excess of federal “action levels,” noted Mr. Stoneback.
Evanston drinking water matters
Lead levels in the water of Evanston pipes are well below the danger zone, said Mr Stoneback in response to a question from Mayor Stephen Hagerty at the February 9 meeting.
Lead pipes were used in Evanston until 1980, said Mr. Stoneback.
In 1992, Evanston began using a mixed phosphate treatment for corrosion protection, officials said. The treatment is designed to minimize the amount of lead that can get into the water from fixtures and utility lines, they said.
At that time, a program to combat corrosion inhibitors was launched and lead levels at Evanston were always below the 15 parts per billion potency level, generally in the seven to 10 parts per billion range, he said.
A new lead-and-copper rule calls for more stringent testing and uses a different type of test that requires samples to be taken beyond the first draw, he said.
But even on that basis, officials believe lead levels will fall below the levels set in the new regulations
These regulations, which will not be enforceable until 2024, will ban partial line services, ”said Mr Stoneback.
That poses some problem, said Mr Stoneback at the meeting, “because the city has an aging water supply system, with over 55% of the pipes being over 80 years old.”
He pointed out that this figure represents an improvement from 59% of grid electricity in 2010 when the council supported a reinforced major replacement program.
“So we’ve made some progress, but not enough,” he told council members, “so staff recommend that we continue to replace water pipes annually by replacing 1% of the water pipes or one. a mile and a half.
He said the schedule includes the major replacements planned for this year, so the property owner will need to get quotes from plumbing companies and sign a contract with one to complete the work while the major replacement is taking place.
Going forward, “if we have enough time,” said Mr Stoneback, “as part of the aqueduct project, we could have the entire main line replacement – which means that homeowners would have to allow us to go into their homes to replace the head Service management. “
This provision could not be included in the 2021 program because it is too far advanced. The staff recommends that landowners whose water supplies will be affected by the main works are given increased incentives, said Mr Stoneback, “to replace their part of the water supply to avoid creating as many partial services as possible”.
For more information on what the city is doing to address lead in drinking water, visit the city’s website, cityofevanston.org., Under “Lead and Drinking Water”.
In the illustration above, the “Private Water Service Line” that runs from the city’s water pipe into the house may contain lead. Screenshot from a video by the American Water Association.
