Dayton reports inventory of service lines; estimates about 10,000 lead or galvanized lines need replacement

Keisha Kinney, interim director of the City of Dayton Department of Water, told the City Commission on June 4 that the city has completed the first phase of the lead service-line compliance work required of public water systems and has produced a predictive inventory that will guide future replacements.

The inventory matters because it determines which public and private lines the city must track and eventually replace to meet regulatory requirements. “We managed to meet our compliance date by October sixteenth of 20 24,” Kinney said, and the city has moved on to the model-and-planning phases that will inform replacements.

Kinney said the city collected field data and public responses to build a predictive model. “We had about 108 field investigations,” she said, and “we got about a thousand people respond back.” Using those data plus plumbing records, Kinney said, the city estimates roughly 65,000 service connections across Dayton. “Based upon the predictive model, we’re saying about 55,000 of them are non lead,” she said, and “about 10,000 of those, and this is including galvanized as well, are lead or galvanized and they will have to be replaced.”

Kinney described the program’s structure: the service connection has a public side (owned by the city) and a private side (owned by the homeowner). The city’s mapping and field verifications identify which side contains lead or galvanized material so replacement responsibilities and plans can be assigned. She said residents can check an online map the city posted where an address search shows whether a public or private line is predicted as lead or copper.

Kinney said the next steps include a second round of verifications and the development of a removal/replacement plan tied to the program’s later phases. “The next phase of this is that we had to post it and present a model,” she said, and staff will prepare a plan for replacement and design work for the compliance phases that follow. She also warned that the schedule referenced a regulatory milestone the presentation called “by 02/1937, if all the rules stay in place,” a date she tied to future planning requirements.

Commissioners responded with congratulations and asked that the information be posted for residents. Commissioner Joseph emphasized that the city “does not have a lead problem currently because of the way we treat our water,” language Kinney repeated in her presentation to reassure residents about current tap-water treatment while noting the inventory and replacement work required by regulators.

Kinney’s presentation was informational; no formal vote was required at the meeting. City staff said they will return with more detailed planning and with additional verification results as the predictive model is refined and more field data are collected.

Residents can view the city’s lead service-line map and enter an address on the city website to see the current prediction for their service line type.