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TO: Mayor Richard C. Irvin
FROM: Ken Schroth, Public Works Director/City Engineer
DATE: August 20, 2018
SUBJECT:
Establishment of a Private Service Line Replacement Program
PURPOSE:
To resume maintenance and improvement projects for underground infrastructure while awaiting direction from the State legislature.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Aurora has long-prided itself on providing clean, safe, and good-tasting water to the community. The City replaced the last remaining lead pipes in its water distribution system many years ago and there is no detectable level of lead in the finished water pumped from our water treatment plant.
The City's publicly owned and maintained water distribution system ends where a water service connects to the public water main. The water service line is the responsibility of the private property owner. While Congress banned installation of new lead service lines (LSLs) in 1986, many residences still utilize private LSLs installed well before 1986.
Private water service lines need to be repaired or replaced for a variety of reasons, such as when a leak is discovered or when the service line crosses a sewer that is being replaced. Research has shown that replacing a portion of a LSL can raise the lead level at the tap for weeks or months. Replacing the entire LSL between the public water main and a building's water meter would be safer, but it requires work on private property and increases the project cost. For this reason, the potable water industry has begun campaigning to "get the lead out" of community water systems by prioritizing the replacement of private LSLs.
Senator Heather A. Steans introduced Illinois Senate Bill 3080 on February 15, 2018. This bill has been amended several times and presently has no clear timeline for adoption, but a key aspect of the bill would require every community water system in Illinois to create a plan to remove all known LSLs, including LSLs that are privately owned and on priva...
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