Case Study: Getting the Lead Out in Halifax
“The BlueConduit Model has allowed us to reduce the overall number of hydrovacs we need to do to confirm service material. This means we can focus hydrovacs on the services of greatest uncertainty and spend more resources on removing lead servicing lines, ultimately improving public health.” Wendy Krkosek, Ph.D., P. Eng., Water Quality Manager, Halifax […]
South Bend Utilities LSL Inventory Case Study
Curious how a water utility goes from no information about their laterals to a service line inventory? That’s the story shared by Michelle Smith, Director of Water Quality for South Bend Utilities, about the LSL Inventory program. Michelle shared her perspective in an article in a Water Finance & Management special report on Future-Proofing Water […]
Esri Recognizes BlueConduit with Innovative Analytics Partner Award
BlueConduit is proud to accept the Esri partner award for Innovative Analytics at the 2023 Esri Infrastructure Management and GIS (IMGIS) Conference. Congratulations to all of the partner award winners, especially those in the Water sector: Axim Geospatial and Elements XS. Ian Robinson attended the conference and accepted the partner award from Esri’s Derek Lorbiecki, […]
Representative Samples for LSLI: Why the number of inspections isn’t what matters most
Communities sometimes balk when asked to inspect service lines in order to gather a “representative sample” of their water system for predictive modeling of their service line materials. After all, they already have a recent sample or survey of some portion of their water system. They may have been reassured by some experts that as […]
Case Study: Cary Utilities Department uses Esri LSLI and BlueConduit for LCRR Compliance
Read the case study about how Cary Utilities Department is inventorying its service line materials for Lead and Copper Rule Revision (LCRR) compliance. To do so efficiently, they are using ArcGIS and BlueConduit predictive modeling. Combining the Esri LSLI solution with the Esri-BlueConduit integration has proven to be a one-stop solution for Cary, where staff […]
Lead Service Lines and Asset Management at World Water-Tech North America 2023
The World Water-Tech North America conference will be held October 25-26 in Los Angeles, California. Lead service lines will be part of the discussion “Asset Management: Predictive Technologies for Detection, Prevention, and Repairs” at 2:45PM on Wednesday October 25. Asset Management: Predictive Technologies for Detection, Prevention, and Repairs Be sure to drop by the session. […]
Catch BlueConduit at WEFTEC 2023
BlueConduit will be headed to Chicago! Join us at WEFTEC 2023 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Here are some of the highlights and where to catch us: We’re ready to discuss all things LCRR compliance, including how to get started with your inventory prep (including where to get our free tools), what to do if you […]
See you at MI-ACE 2023 in Port Huron
Headed to MI-ACE 2023? The Michigan section of the American Water Works Association will hold its 85th Annual Conference and Exhibit Tuesday, September 12 to Friday, September 15 in Port Huron. Join us at the Blue Water Convention Center for the continuing education, technical presentations that week. Find us on Wednesday, September 13 at Booth […]
BlueConduit Launches a Water System-level Lead Service Line Count and Replacement Cost Estimator
It’s estimated 9 million lead pipes carry drinking water to millions of people in the U.S. (ANN ARBOR, Mich.) July 10, 2023 — Water utilities nationwide are working to find and replace their lead service lines (LSLs) without knowing how many are in their system. To help utilities plan, water analytics pioneer BlueConduit launched a […]
When a Representative Sample of Service Lines Reveals Zero Lead, What Can You Say?
It’s easy to find evidence for a risk of lead exposure from water service lines: once you find a lead service line, you know there is some risk. But how do we show that there isn’t a meaningful risk of lead in our water system? In some communities, water utility personnel with decades of experience […]
WaterWorld: Detroit uses Machine Learning for LSL Inventory and Replacement
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is using BlueConduit’s machine learning in their efforts to replace the city’s lead service lines (LSLs). Their work is getting state and federal funding and national notice. WaterWorld magazine recently published “How Detroit uses machine learning to solve its lead service line challenges” article. Cities nationwide have challenges […]
Get the Lead out of New Orleans Digital Kickoff
[edited May 11, 2023 to add the video and link to the press release] WHO: WE ACT for Environmental Justice, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), BlueConduit, Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, The Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans, Total Community Action, Civic Studio WHAT: Announcement of an interactive inventory that allows residents to […]
Progress in Toledo and Buffalo powered by Lead Service Line Maps
The Rockefeller Foundation recently published “Tackling Clean Water Advocacy, a Different Way: The Rise of BlueConduit“. The article highlights Toledo, Ohio, and Buffalo, New York. Both cities are replacing lead service lines in their drinking water system, and they’re using BlueConduit’s predictions and maps to do it efficiently. Yet the value of tech goes beyond […]
Video: Detroit Water & Sewerage Department and BlueConduit
My name is Bryan Peckinpaugh. I’m the Public Affairs Director for the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department, and I’ve been part of the Lead Service Line Replacement Program since we launched it in 2018. We are a city of single-family homes, so there are a lot of individual lead service lines. We have more than […]
How to Identify and Address Bias in your LSL Inventories
Every community wants to find and remove every lead water service line in their water system. The necessary first step is creating an accurate lead service line inventory (LSLI), so that you know where to dig, and can properly prioritize where to start. But creating that inventory is extremely tricky. Most utilities and municipalities have […]
Guide to Evaluate Predictive Modeling for Lead
How to Evaluate Predictive Models for Lead Service Line Inventory and Replacement The EPA has included predictive modeling as a service line material investigation method. The approach sounds straightforward: use the information you know to make predictions about what you don’t yet know. If you are not a trained data scientist, how do you pick an […]
Five Reasons to Start Building Your LSL Inventory NOW
Multiple factors are pushing water utilities to be more transparent about pipe materials in their distribution system. These factors include new regulations and increased public awareness about the risk of lead in drinking water. Municipalities and utilities know they have an Environmental Protection Agency compliance deadline (pursuant to current Lead and Copper Rule Revisions) to […]
BlueConduit Joins First-Ever White House Partnership to Address Lead Pipe Crisis
6 to 12 million lead pipes carry drinking water to millions of people in the U.S., per latest estimate (WASHINGTON) January 27, 2023 — At the White House today, water analytics leader BlueConduit unites with over 100 organizations for a summit to expedite the removal of lead in drinking water across the U.S. The event […]
Video: Finding and Replacing Lead Service Lines is No Simple Task
Replacing Lead Service Lines with Predictive Modeling Video Transcript There are believed to be 6 to 10 million lead service lines in use throughout the United States. These lead lines continue to be the primary source of lead contamination in our drinking water. But finding and replacing these lead lines is no simple task. We […]
How Artificial Intelligence Improves Efforts to Find and Replace Lead Service Lines
Given that lead is such a potent neurotoxin, getting the largest number of lead drinking water service lines replaced as quickly as possible is an obvious top priority. But it may not be immediately apparent why you’d want to use artificial intelligence and machine learning as part of these efforts. After all, we’re not looking […]
Video: BlueConduit on ASDWA Tech for LSL Inventories and Mapping Webinar
On November 10, 2022, the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) held the first in a series of webinars on LSL Implementation Tools and Best Practices (series info). BlueConduit’s co-Founder Eric Schwartz shared what we have learned in our work. Here’s the video, cued up to Eric’s section where he gave an overview of […]
Interview with Metise Moore Sr from WEFTEC
Thank you to Dr. Cat Shrier from Water Citizen for her interview of BlueConduit’s Chief Commercial Officer Metise Moore Sr. at WEFTEC22 in New Orleans. Metise and Dr. Cat discussed several topics, from BlueConduit’s platform, to how to recruit talent, to how to increase opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation from marginalized communities. Here is the […]
Precision vs. Recall for Predicting Service Line Materials
Now that the EPA has included statistical prediction as a service line investigation method, it’s worth considering what makes a “good” prediction. Like so many things, there are trade-offs and choices to be made. One choice is the prioritization of precision and recall. It may sound pedantic, but it matters for real-world outcomes. Measuring the […]
Lead-Free Water Challenge: Articles and Webinar
As part of the Lead-Free Water Challenge, BlueConduit has been working with the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC) and other partners to help communities around the nation remove lead pipes. At the one-year mark in this initiative, EPIC is hosting a webinar and has published several articles about the effort. Lead-Free Water Challenge Webinar EPIC […]
In the News: Jared Webb profile on Working AI
DeepLearning.ai profiled BlueConduit’s Chief Data Scientist, Jared Webb. The question and answer article “Working AI: How a Former Academic Helped Launch a Company that Makes Cities Healthier” (full article) explored BlueConduit’s history and what Jared looks for in data science candidates. From the intro: Jared Webb is the head of data science at BlueConduit, a […]
LSLR In the News: Cities left behind
August 26, 2022 – Associated Press Reporter Michael Phillis spoke with Radhika Fox of the US EPA Department of Water, Eric Oswalt of Michigan’s Drinking Water Division, Erik Olson of NRDC, and Eric Schwartz of BlueConduit among others. The article, which focused on Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Iowa, covered the different commitments and progress of […]
Service Line Inventory Prep Webinar On Demand
A Smart Service Line Inventory Powers LCR Compliance On August 4, 2022 the US EPA provided its Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory, including recommendations on machine learning (get the full story here). The work of developing and maintaining a service line inventory is essential for asset management, lead service line replacement, […]
EPA Service Line Inventory Guidance includes Machine Learning Recommendations
On August 4, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Service Line Inventory Guidance. On the EPA’s LCRR page, you can find its Guidance for Developing and Maintaining a Service Line Inventory (PDF) and an Inventory Template (XLS). BlueConduit is proud to have our work cited in several sections of the Guidance, including […]
Press Coverage of Buffalo Lead Map Project Launch
On July 20, Heart of the Community Neighborhoods, Citizen Action of New York, Open Buffalo, Buffalo Sewer Authority, BlueConduit, NRDC, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and elected representatives from New York held a press conference about the launch of a community-led project to locate and remove lead drinking water service lines in Buffalo. The project […]
Buffalo Community Groups Join Map Project To Find and Replace Lead Water Pipes
Community advocates, the water utility, and mapping experts collaborate to document where Buffalo’s lead pipes are located, as records are incomplete or inaccurate BUFFALO, NY (July 20, 2022) – Buffalo will be one of the first cities in the nation to deploy cutting-edge machine learning to solve a century-old problem: the location of an estimated 40,000 […]
