CINCINNATI – When Susan and Michael Jorgensen bought a sprawling, older home in Cincinnati’s College Hill neighborhood last year, they knew it could pose some challenges. After all, the house was built in 1913, and with its historical charm came the burdens of age.
What the Jorgensens hadn’t expected, however, was to learn that their aqueduct is made of lead. As a toxic metal, experts say, lead can have a devastating effect on a person’s health if consumed for long periods of time.
The Jorgensen House in College Hill (Provided)
Susan Jorgensen said she had no idea that her home had a senior service line. She said it may have been listed on real estate documents, but they weren’t aware of it.
“Our house is old,” said Jorgensen. “We didn’t actively think about it before it came up in an emergency.”
A private contractor who was doing plumbing on the house accidentally bumped into the property’s aqueduct. They discovered that the pipes were made of lead.
The Jorgensens feared that the cost of replacing the pipe would be too high. At this point, Susan Jorgensen did some research online and discovered that Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) was offering a cost-sharing program to address this very situation.
“I felt pretty hopeless at the time and didn’t know what we were going to do. But about 15 minutes after the call I got a call back from someone at Water Works, ”Jorgensen said. “They said, ‘Hey, we can get you in right now because this is an emergency. Just let the plumbers know that we’ll take care of it. ‘”
An employee from the waterworks came by the same day she called to hand over filters. They also left literature on lead and why it was important to replace the service line.
Jorgensen and her husband signed a contract with Water Works the next day, and the line was replaced within a week and a half.
While the Jorgensens’ quick response time was unique to the urgent need for repairs, Water Works tries to complete most replacements within months, said Leslie Moening, senior program manager at GCWW.
Lead pipes in Cincinnati
Cincinnati is an ancient city, and some of the pipes and utilities in its water system are more than 200 years old. There are around 40,000 senior service lines still operating in the city, and GCWW is working to remove each of them.
For decades, like other water utilities around the country, Water Works built its utilities with lead. Utility pipes are the small pipes that connect homes and businesses with a water pipe that runs under the street.
In the second half of the 20th century it was discovered that lead is harmful. It is particularly dangerous for the growth and intellectual development of children under 6 years of age, but it can also cause conditions such as high blood pressure and kidney disease in adults.
In 1986, Congress banned the installation of lead pipes. At the time, there were nearly 10.2 million lead lines, according to an American Public Media article. The report says that up to 22 million Americans used lead pipes to cook and drink tap water last year.
Cincinnati stopped using lead in its service lines in 1927, yet there are still tens of thousands of households and businesses across the city using lead service lines, according to the GCWW.
Filters can help protect against water pollution, but the most effective solution is to replace the lead pipes.
‘Help is on the way
For this reason, Water Works started its Enhanced Lead Service Line Replacement Program in early 2016. The program provides educational work to alert customers to potential risks and offers co-payments to help with exchanges.
“We met with community leaders in all 52 boroughs of Cincinnati and one of the things we decided was that this program was effective, we had to make it affordable,” said Moening.
A graphic depicting lead service line ownership (provided)
Co-payment is an integral part of the GCWW program. Although the problem is common to all of Cincinnati, many of the older neighborhoods that are experiencing the problem also have large local residents who are in dire financial straits.
Examples of neighborhoods with large concentrations of leading service lines are Over-the-Rhine, Northside, Westwood, and the Price Hill neighborhoods.
“Some of the neighborhoods most in need of lead replacement are also struggling with income inequality,” said Moening. “With this program we are trying to remove the cost barrier.”
GCWW, a city in the department of Cincinnati, pays for the program through water fees. The city had to amend Cincinnati Township Law and issue several ordinances to use the fee pay monies to allow infrastructure replacement on private properties.
There are no public lead water pipes and distribution pipes, Moening said, but many of the water pipes that serve individual properties are made of the toxic material.
Around 14,000 of these lines remain on the public side. Moening said GCWW is working to replace about 3% each year through water pipe replacements and road improvement projects.
But the 40,000 or so on private properties are more difficult to address. They need approval from property owners, many of whom don’t even know they have senior service lines, Moening added.
A graphic showing the GCWW-provided search card for the leading service line
Residents can check their Serviceline material with an online interactive map from GCWW. The utility also offers free lead testing kits and water filters to qualified households.
For the Jorgensens, the total replacement cost was about $ 1,000, but after the cost-sharing they only had to pay about $ 600 out of pocket.
While the final amount for the College Hill Project was less expensive than it could have been without GCWW’s support, it is still more expensive than many lower-income property owners can afford. And some replacement projects can be even more expensive.
That is why Water Works created its HELP program, which stands for Help Eliminate Lead Pipes. The program covers the total cost of replacing households equal to 80% of the region’s median income.
The money comes from fundraising drives, including events at local breweries, as well as private donations from companies and local residents. Many GCWW employees have also donated funds directly from their paychecks.
Since its inception in 2017, HELP has allocated $ 264,000 to service line exchanges in 334 properties, Moening said.
Daycare centers are 100% supported
Not only houses are affected. Businesses are too, including daycare.
In September 2020, Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency GCWW provided $ 725,000 in government funds to replace senior service lines in licensed childcare facilities. The funds cover 100% of the costs for the replacement of the supply lines for these properties.
Cathy B. Bailey, executive director of GCWW, said at the time the grant would accelerate the agency’s “Infant and Young Child Protection” efforts.
Records from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services show that there are 185 licensed childcare facilities in the GCWW service area.
Of these institutions, 39 have already replaced the lead service line with the grant money, while another 29 are in the approval process, said Moening.
The first of these facilities is the Cozy Care Nursery School and Childcare in Walnut Hills, a historic neighborhood in Cincinnati with a significant number of service lines.
Greg Windle, director of the Immanuel Child Development Center in Clifton, said he learned about the program through a Water Works mailing to childcare facilities.
GCWW had previously tested the center’s water quality to make sure it was lead-free, Windle said. Although no trace was found, management decided to replace the service line because “a new line is much safer than one that is perhaps 60 years old,” said Windle.
GCWW crews were at the Clifton facility for two days to run a line into the facility, he added. Windle said it didn’t affect the operation of the facility or the approximately 40 children they care for on a daily basis.
“It was as easy as calling to make an appointment. They showed up and did very little damage, ”says Windle. “Whatever they had to dig up, they fixed it for us. And it didn’t cost us any money, “so it really was a small price to pay to make sure everyone was safe.”
Those interested in more information can visit Lead.myGCWW.org or call 513-651-LEAD (5323).
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