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Village expands hydro-excavation to locate and replace potential lead services
Summary
Spicer engineer told the Village of Saint Charles council the TMF-funded hydro-excavation program has inspected 58 services so far and found seven galvanized lines that may require replacement; the contract was expanded to cover 570 services to capture all unknown connections and support future grant applications.
The Village of Saint Charles moved to accelerate its inspection of private water service lines after an engineering update from the village’s consultant.
A Spicer engineer reported the contractor has inspected 58 service lines to date and identified seven galvanized services that will be prioritized for further verification and replacement if they are determined to have ever been connected to lead. ‘‘They started down on Hanchette and they’re kind of slowly working north through the village,’’ the engineer said, adding the crews typically dig a short trench, inspect the service and restore the sod.
Council heard that the village amended the contract to expand the inspection scope from 356 to 570 services using the full TMF grant allocation. The consultant said the higher count will let the village ‘‘know where all the galvanized and lead is’’ and put the village ahead in meeting state compliance expectations. The firm expects most services to be copper or copper-and-plastic; the engineer said 51 of the first 58 were copper or copper/plastic.
The consultant described the field process as noninvasive for most properties: crews use hydro-excavation, document conditions with photos, refill the excavation and notify homeowners if a hazardous material is found. The firm also said it will prepare engineering material to support future grant applications to fund actual replacements.
Trustees pressed staff for clearer public communication about when crews will be in specific neighborhoods. The engineer said a full-scope map of targeted services is available and staff can provide rough weekly estimates, but the contractor schedules work day-to-day. "If there’s specific people with specific questions, have them reach out to the office or reach out to me, and I can give them a better estimate of when we think we’ll be out there," the engineer said.
The council was told the contract increase is roughly $55,000 but still below the original awarded amount; the consultant expects the expanded work to finish in 2025, well ahead of the statutory compliance horizon mentioned by staff.
Next steps: staff and Spicer will continue inspections, notify homeowners when a lead or galvanized service is identified, and pursue additional funding to pay for replacements.
