Several cities in Johnson County are planning their next steps to combat lead pipes in light of the federal government declaring such pipes must be replaced in the next decade.

On Oct. 8, President Joe Biden and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules surrounding lead pipes. These rules include utility providers taking stock of and replacing all lead pipes in the next decade.

While the rule requires a utility provider, such as a city, to replace its own lead lines, the provider would not be responsible for sharing the cost of replacing any private lines, including those used in homes.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are over 9.2 million lead service lines in the U.S., with Iowa containing around 96,500. On Oct. 8, the agency announced Iowa would receive $37.4 million to help replace lead lines.

Iowa will also receive $162 million in federal funding between 2022 and 2026 for lead service line replacements as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides funding for various infrastructure improvements.

Jon Durst, Iowa City’s water superintendent, said while the new rules may sound good on paper, it can be difficult to convince homeowners to replace their own water lines because of the cost. Durst said he has seen water line replacement costs vary from $2,000 to $35,000 depending on different factors, such as the length of the line.

The city is required to periodically notify residents who have known or suspected lead lines, but if that resident does not want to replace their line, the city’s hands are tied, Durst said. Iowa City has around 2,900 land parcels with known or suspected lead contamination in their service lines, he said.

Even before the federal government’s new rules, Iowa City has been tackling the issue of lead lines as best as it can, Durst said. The city’s Lead Reduction Program, which has been running since 2023, has been successful in informing residents on their options in dealing with lead pipes, he said.

According to the city’s website, the program has three components: banning lead line repairs, insuring against lead service lines, and a cost share program.

Since January 2024, Iowa City has banned any repairs of lead service lines. The city also has an agreement with the Service Line Warranties of America to help residents find insurance for unexpected lead service line replacements, potentially saving money.

The city’s cost share program can help partially cover lead line replacements or other associated costs, such as verifying the materials of a water service line. The city’s website states the program can cover half or up to $5,000 of a full line replacement, whichever is less.

Since its implementation, the cost share program has been used by 15 residents, Durst said. The program is currently funded by $500,000 of a federal pandemic relief grant, but once that money runs out, Durst said he plans to ask for continued funding from the city.

Going forward, the city will continue to inform residents on lead pipes and sources of lead, Durst said.

While water lines are commonly thought of as the way lead gets into a home, there can be other ways, including lead paint, certain faucet fixtures, and even cinnamon, Durst said. In some cases, lead pipes may not contaminate water because of minerals that coat the inside of the pipe, meaning the water does not come into contact with lead.

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“Ultimately, the reason information is important is because even if you do have a lead pipe, it doesn’t mean you have lead in your water,” Durst said. “And even if you don’t have a lead pipe, it doesn’t mean you don’t have lead in your water.”

How are other cities responding?

While there are numerous areas in Iowa City that have or may have contaminated pipes, other nearby cities are dealing with this issue on a smaller scale.

Nick Bergus, North Liberty’s community relations director, wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that the city has not had to replace any lead service lines.

The City of North Liberty identified 961 service lines that could potentially be made of lead and was able to determine through city records and inspections that there was no lead present in any lines, Bergus wrote.

Out of over 6,300 total service lines in Coralville, the city has been able to narrow down 83 lines that could have lead contamination, Jordon Altenhofen, Coralville’s water plant superintendent, said.

Lead lines in Coralville are a rarity and were replaced any time past city officials came across them, Altenhofen said. A potential reason why lead service lines are hard to come across in Coralville is because most of the water system is new or redeveloped, meaning any older water mains got replaced, he said.

Moving forward, Altenhofen said he plans to inspect the 83 unknown properties to figure out if they contain lead pipes. He said he suspects there will be so few lead lines that the city may be able to take on the cost of replacement.

“Realistically, I bet you, I’m only going to be replacing maybe two or three service lines, that kind of thing that truly needs full replacements. My plan is to try to just approach [the city] council and just eat the cost,” Altenhofen said. “Now, if 30 percent of my system was lead — that would be over 1,000 service lines — there’d be no way I could eat that cost.”

What is the state’s role?

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources oversees the implementation and compliance of the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules within the state, Carmily Stone, the supervisor of the department’s water supply engineering, said.

The original regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency that aimed to reduce lead and copper contamination in water came out in 1991. This rule has received several revisions and improvements over the years, with Oct. 8 marking the most recent.

Throughout this time, the department has adopted the agency’s rules for the state and ensured compliance, Stone said.

One of the tasks designated in a 2021 revision of the federal lead and copper rule stated that states must establish a lead service line inventory. Each inventory notes the locations of lead, non-lead, and unknown service lines, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

On Oct. 16, all public water utility providers in Iowa had to submit their own inventories to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Stone said.

Out of about 1,200 total expected inventories, the department received nearly 95 percent of the service line inventories by the deadline, Stone said. Now, the department will review the submissions and report them to the Environmental Protection Agency in the coming months, she said.

Moving forward, water providers will have to continue to update their inventories as things change with lead service lines in the area, such as replacements or new discoveries, Stone said.