The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on May 2 that $3 billion from President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help every state and territory identify and replace lead service lines, preventing exposure to lead in drinking water.
Lead can cause a range of serious health impacts, including irreversible harm to brain development in children.
The $9 billion in total funding announced to date through the EPA’s Lead Service Line Replacement Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide, securing clean drinking water for countless families.
Groundwater-supplied community public water systems are 84 percent of all community water systems and 84 percent of all water systems with lead and copper violations. Small groundwater systems serving 10,000 or fewer people represent 98 percent of the groundwater systems with lead and copper violations.
“The science is clear, there is no safe level of lead exposure, and the primary source of harmful exposure in drinking water is through lead pipes,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
The EPA projects a national total of nine million lead services lines across the country based on data collected from the updated 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. The funding announced will be provided specifically for lead service line identification and replacement and will help every state and territory fund projects to remove lead pipes and reduce exposure to lead from drinking water.
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