$1 million to be invested in lead water line replacement in Vandergrift, Leechburg areas

The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will ramp up its efforts this year to replace thousands of lead waterlines throughout its five-county service area.

Authority officials announced this week it will use a $1 million state grant to pay for the swapping out of as many as 200 waterlines in Vandergrift, East Vandergrift, North Vandergrift, Leechburg and West Leechburg.

It’s the start of what is expected to be a decadelong program to meet proposed federal standards requiring the elimination of all lead pipes by 2037.

Work is expected to begin later this year.

“We have been working on our service line inventory since 2017. This replacement program is just a start, but we are getting ahead of future regulations,” MAWC business manager Brian Hohman said.

The authority identified more than 800 lead and galvanized waterlines in the Vandergrift area as officials continue to assess and inventory its water delivery system, which includes nearly 123,000 customers throughout most of Westmoreland County as well as parts of Allegheny, Armstrong, Fayette and Indiana counties.

A full inventory of lead waterlines is expected to be completed by October.

Hohman estimated there are “thousands” of lead pipes throughout the water system — which would represent about 2% of its lines. Most are in older communities.

Pennsylvania banned the use of lead lines in 1992, but MAWC officials said the authority halted the use of lead pipes decades earlier. They believe those that remain feed into older homes built in towns before 1950.

Officials said chemicals are used to stop the corrosion of pipes and prevent dangerous levels of lead from leaching into the drinking water.

Authority officials said there is no concern about the safety of the drinking water supplied by MAWC. Testing for lead was last completed in 2022 and, of the more than 160 samples evaluated, just two exceeded recommended standards for the presence of lead at more than 15 parts per billion, according to results posted of the authority’s website.

“The majority of our system is copper (pipes),” Hohman said. “We do not have a significant lead problem.”

Myron Arnowitt, director of Clean Water Action in Pennsylvania, said those test results may not be a true reflection of whether there are dangerous levels of lead in MAWC’s system or most other water companies that comply with standard testing guidelines.

“They test a very small number of lines, so I’m not sure they’re getting accurate numbers. We really don’t have a good sense of what lead levels are like for residents,” Arnowitt said. “We know there are lead pipes out there, and the concern is they are corroding. We have to move to a prevention model, and that is really where we should be.”

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, which serves about 300,000 customers, has been replacing lead service lines since 2016. According to the agency’s website, it replaced more than 10,700 lead lines over the past seven years and is on pace to finish its work in 2026.

Officials said the city agency has spent more than $160 million on its lead line replacement program.

“Utilities need to plan it out. There are certainly multiple federal and state resources available, so this is doable. I’m glad to see we are addressing the problem in a meaningful way,” Arnowitt said.

MAWC said it is exploring funding options to pay for broader systemwide replacement of lead lines.

“We will continue to seek funding for additional replacements,” Hohman said. “We expect this has to be done by 2037, and we will meet that deadline.”