Lead Service Water Lines To Be Replaced Across NJ

Newark managed to replace all of the city’s lead service water lines in three years with unprecedented funding and bipartisan support. The rest of NJ comes next.

Lead service water lines in New Jersey will be replaced over the next ten years.

A 2021 NJ State Law in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency wants to remove hazardous substances from New Jersey’s drinking water and reduce lead pipe usage in the state’s infrastructure.

Those customers affected will receive a letter from American Water asking customers to run cold water from their faucets to flush out lead from pipes.

Just last week, Newark, NJ showed off their work replacing all lead water lines in the city to Vice President Kamala Harris. The work in Newark started three years ago and since Newark, NJ has replaced 23,000 lead service water lines.

Costs for replacing the lead water lines are expected to be funded by ‘utility ratepayers’ and New Jersey homeowners.

Newark distributed about 40,000 PUR filters, which were found to be 99% effective when used properly, and bottled water while lead pipe replacements were being made.

Newark had originally planned to complete lead service line replacement in a period of ten years, but unprecedented funding and bipartisan support accelerated the timeline.

With plenty of funding and support across the aisle, Newark was able to move forward with legislation to use lead service line replacement funds on private property without the permission of homeowners, accelerating the project's timeline and replacing all the city's lead service lines in just under three years.

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