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City begins service‑line inspections to reduce unknowns; McGregor Reserve water complaints persist
Summary
City staff outlined work to identify unknown service-line materials required under EPA rules: a predictive model plus 369 field-investigation sites to validate results; council pressed on process, city-side vs private-side responsibilities and ongoing water-quality issues in McGregor Reserve.
City utilities staff described a two-track approach to comply with EPA lead-and-copper rules: a predictive-model inventory and a contractor-led field verification program to reduce the 9,175 currently 'unknown' service‑line entries in the city’s inventory.
Justin Mahone, environmental compliance manager, said the city’s current published inventory lists 0 confirmed lead lines, 39 galvanized steel lines, 15,220 non-lead service lines and 9,175 unknowns. Because digging every connection is impractical, the city contracted Black & Veatch for predictive analytics to infer material types and engaged HST Utility to perform a representative field investigation of 369 sites starting Jan. 5 to validate the model and reach 95% confidence levels in the predictive output.
Mahone described the on-site procedure: contractor photo documentation, visual inspection, scratch and magnet tests in meter boxes and completion of a door-hanger notice to residents describing results. He said contractors are instructed to knock on doors, photograph meter boxes before disturbance and repair or replace meter-box covers and restore the site after testing.
Council members raised concerns about community notification, contractor identification in the field (reflecting prior meter-replacement complaints), and the city’s obligations to replace lines on the utility side of the meter. Utilities director Richard Moulton said the city will have to replace identified lead service lines in compliance with the EPA rule within the prescribed timeframe and that predicted-model outputs will be used to prioritize verifications and replacements.
Separately, councilors pressed staff about persistent water-quality problems in McGregor Reserve, including rapid filter clogging and rust-colored water. Moulton said the city has invested in line replacements and aggressive flushing, installed automatic flushers and is sampling more intensively; he said staff will continue exploring further infrastructure investments if necessary.
What’s next: contractor mobilization in early January to validate model predictions; results to be compiled and published on the city’s public dashboard with follow-up planning for any required replacements per EPA timelines.
