Communication Is Part of U.S. EPA's Lead and Copper Rule Revisions
INDIANAPOLIS – Citizens Energy Group this week commenced a communications campaign that includes a new online information portal as well as letters mailed to every service address associated with a known or possible lead service line. A service line is the pipe owned by the property owner that connects a home or building to the public water main. Many homes and buildings built before 1950 in Central Indiana were built with service lines made of lead, and Citizens estimates that more than 75,000 customers may still own and use lead service lines.
As part of the communications campaign, Citizens has published an online information portal featuring a searchable customer service line inventory. Citizens also has begun mailing notifications to customers who own or may own a lead service line, and will do so annually each year thereafter until it is confirmed by physical inspection to be non-lead or is replaced with a non-lead service line.
The communication of this information is mandated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR). All water utilities in the United States that serve customers who own or may own lead service lines are required by the LCRR to publish an informational database and annually notify customers of their lead service line status.
While water leaving Citizens’ treatment facilities does not contain lead, and water does not pass through lead pipes within the public water distribution system on its way to customers’ homes, individual customers may own lead service lines or interior plumbing systems that are made of lead or include lead components. Along with providing information to customers about their lead service lines, Citizens has several programs to help mitigate lead exposure, including treating water to reduce the possibility of corrosion.
Additionally, Citizens is continuing to implement a robust Lead Service Line Replacement Program. Full replacement of a lead service line is the most effective method of permanently reducing any potential exposure to lead from drinking water. As part of this program, which was approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in 2022, construction crews contracted by Citizens fully replace lead service lines for customers who own them. To date, Citizens crews have replaced more than 2,000 lead service lines, with construction ongoing in neighborhoods and at other strategic sites across Indianapolis. The goal of this program is to identify and replace every lead service line owned by Citizens water customers.
Beyond notification letters and the online service line information portal, Citizens’ communication on the topic of lead service line ownership has included community outreach to groups including neighborhood organizations, faith leaders, consumer stakeholders, and technical advisory groups.
More information on lead exposure to drinking water within a customer-owned lead service line or plumbing is available at www.citizensenergygroup.com/lead.
About the lead service line replacement program being implemented by Citizens Energy Group
Tens of thousands of Citizens customers own homes or buildings that include a customer-owned water service line made of lead or containing lead (particularly structures built before 1950). Approved in 2022, the multi-year lead service line replacement program is identifying customer-owned service lines that contain lead and replacing them.
Citizens regularly monitors tap water throughout the public system and at points within customers’ homes in accordance with United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule. Drinking water remains fully compliant with all federal and state water quality requirements. Still, the surest method to avoid any potential for lead exposure in drinking water is to replace customer-owned service lines made of lead. Replacements will be accomplished in several ways: in coordination with infrastructure improvement projects; in proactive focus neighborhoods; or as initiated by customers for the upgrade or maintenance of their own service line.
Learn more about the lead service line replacement program Citizens is implementing by clicking here.
About Citizens Energy Group
Citizens Energy Group provides safe and reliable utility services to about 900,000 people in the Indianapolis area. Citizens operates its utilities for the benefit of customers and the community.
Media Contact Information
Laura O'Brien
Phone: 317-519-1515
Email: media@citizensenergygroup.com