Laredo utilities director says system is compliant with lead-and-copper rule; 69 mains prioritized for replacement

Walter, the city's director of utilities, reported to the Laredo Utilities Advisory Committee that the department is now in compliance with the revised Lead and Copper Rule, has reorganized water-quality sampling and cross-connection work, and plans near-term main replacement on 69 priority streets.

The report, delivered at the committee meeting, said the utility has moved bacterial (bactu) sampling to the water treatment division, established a public website showing the lead-service inventory and notifications tied to billing cycles, and will soon place three main-replacement projects out to bid as the start of a larger program covering 69 high-break-frequency mains across every city district.

The compliance update was the central message: "We are now in compliance," Walter told the committee, adding that meeting the rule was important both for public health and the utility's financial profile. He credited staff, specifically naming Adrian Goss for work on the lead-and-copper tasks, and said compliance helped preserve the utility's bond-rating discussions with Fitch.

Why this matters: the Lead and Copper Rule requires utilities to inventory service-line materials and to make information publicly available; Laredo identified about 37,000 services as "unknown" in an initial inventory of roughly 80,000 service lines and has posted that inventory on its website and through customer billing notices. The inventory triggers further action under the rule, including refinement and an eventual replacement plan.

Key program actions and status

- Lead-and-copper compliance: The utility completed the initial inventory and posted it publicly.…