BlueConduit in Water Online: How the New Lead and Copper Rule Could Impact You

EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions will put increased oversight on water utilities when the rules come into effect. BlueConduit co-founders Eric Schwartz and Jake Abernethy wrote a column in Water Online about how these revisions will impact water utilities and steps that utilities can take today to be ready for the rule’s implementation.

Among the biggest changes in the rule are the development of publicly accessible service line inventories:

“All water systems have three years to develop an initial LSL inventory or demonstrate the absence of LSLs. Water systems should begin organizing their records to develop the inventories. The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) created a guide to service-line inventories that can help utilities prepare. The inventories will be publicly accessible and must be updated periodically. Systems then must develop an LSL replacement plan based on their inventories. Predictive modeling is specified in the rule as a helpful strategy in guiding inventory-and-replacement programs.”

“Within 30 days of completing its initial LSL inventory and annually thereafter, water systems with LSLs must provide notice to households with service lines made of lead or with lead status unknown. The LCR specifies the notice must include information about the health effects of lead, steps customers can take to reduce lead exposure, and how to identify and remove an LSL.”

To learn more about EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions and how BlueConduit can help utilities get ready for them, check out the BlueConduit’s LCR Revisions resources.

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About BlueConduit

BlueConduit pioneered the predictive modeling approach to lead service line identification and replacement. Through BlueConduit data science, utilities, municipalities, government agencies, and consultants standardize, predict, report, and communicate key information about lead.