Update: Cook County Service Line Inventory Requirements (And Why Documenting “Unknown Material” Service Lines Matter)
Community water suppliers (CWS) in Cook County are required to submit updated water service line inventories to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) annually on April 15. These inventories will help communities comply with the new federal Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) which will require CWS’ to replace 100% of their lead service lines over a 10-year period, beginning November 1, 2027 (a replacement rate of 10% of lead service lines each year). Available records indicate Cook County community water suppliers have more work to do preparing their inventories in advance of these replacement requirements. Approximately 106,000 water service lines in suburban Cook County alone (excluding Chicago) are currently listed as made of an unknown material.
The Importance of Service Line Inventories
Service lines with unknown materials can be challenging for CWS from a planning and financial perspective. “Unknown material” service lines are typically treated as suspected lead out of an abundance of caution and are included when calculating a community’s mandatory service line replacement rate. For instance, a CWS reporting 100 lead service lines and 100 unknown service lines would need to replace 20 service lines every year (10% of 200). If that same CWS completes its lead service line inventory and confirms that 50 of the 100 unknown service lines are non-lead, its annual replacement requirement drops to 15 service lines every year (10% of 150).
Completing a lead service line inventory reduces uncertainty, supports better planning, builds trust between the CWS and its ratepayers by accurately projecting rate increase needs, and can lower labor and funding costs. If the average cost of one lead service line replacement is $15,000 (arguably a low estimate for LSLR in the Chicagoland region), the example above could reduce the projected annual replacement costs by as much as $75,000 per year.
IEPA Public Water Supply Loan Program Lead Service Line Inventory Grant
As important as it is to develop a comprehensive and accurate-as-possible service line inventory, the process can be onerous and resource-intensive (both in staff time and money), especially for lower-capacity communities. To address CWS’ need for technical support in developing inventories and replacement plans, the IEPA Public Water Supply Loan Program (PWSLP) has renewed the Lead Service Line Inventory (LSLI) Grant Program through its State Revolving Fund program. The LSLI Grant Opportunity provides up to $50,000 to Illinois community water suppliers to complete service line inventories. Funds cannot be used for CWS staff costs, but they may be used for third-party activities related to lead service line inventory work. CWS may submit at any time during the fiscal year and submit more than one application as needed to complete the lead service line inventory process.
For more information, please visit the Cook County TAP YouTube channel to view these webinars related to service line inventories: