Collinsville receives $50k to check for lead service lines
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By Devese “Dee” Ursery
The City of Collinsville has received a $50,000 grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to help with the requirements summarized in the Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act.
Dennis Kress, public works director, said the grant will finance a professional services agreement with a consultant. The official is to assist the city develop an inventory of the city’s water service line, notably to identify lead service lines in the water system.
“We don’t suspect there’s a whole bunch of water services, but part of what we are doing is identifying exactly how many lead pipes there are in the city,” Kress said.
Kress said the reason for this action is because it is mandated by the EPA to get an accurate count. That count is needed to develop a plan to replace all lead pipe service lines within the city’s system.
“We do lead and copper testing on our water and our lead results have been low enough to where we receive a waiver,” Kress said. “That waiver from the Illinois EPA allows us to have reduced testing.
Kress explained that the EPA tests for lead and copper on a three-year cycle. The rule is annual checks, but with a waiver it’s every three years. The last test was conducted in 2021.
According to Kress, the city produces water that is scale forming. Over time scales build up on the inside of the water lines and insulates the water line material from the actual drinking water.
The Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act needs owners and operators of community water supplies in Illinois to submit a complete water service line material inventory. This inventory must meet the EPA’s approval no later than April 15, 2024.
The Illinois EPA conducted a comprehensive review and scoring of all grant applications received to determine priority. Based on the scoring, the Illinois EPA will fund 48 projects for a total of $2,000,000. Of the 48 projects funded, 40 were identified as being in areas of Environmental Justice concern.
Funding was provided up to a maximum of $50,000 per grant recipient. Beneficiaries of the grant may request supplemental funding in the form of a low-interest loan. The loan is through the Illinois EPA’s PWSLP in conjunction with financing to replace lead service lines.
Wood River is another city in Madison County that will also receive the LSLI grant. They were awarded $40,000.
Kress stated that anytime they come across a lead service line they provide notification with the replacement of the water lines that they have worked on.
“We know that our water is safe,” Kress said. “We test for lead and copper and it’s been our policy in the city, if we do come across lead service lines we immediately replace them. We’ve been doing that since the early 90s.”
