Every October, Lead Poisoning Prevention Week serves as a national reminder that protecting our drinking water systems isn’t just about improving infrastructure you can’t physically see — it’s about public health. Safe, reliable water service is essential for every family, and replacing lead and galvanized steel service lines is one of the most direct ways we can protect the health of our communities, especially children.
Exposure to lead – even at low levels – can cause lasting harm, particularly in children, affecting brain development, behavior, and learning. That’s why Aqua Pennsylvania has made replacing customer-owned lead and galvanized service lines a top priority.
In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized new rules requiring all drinking water systems to identify and replace lead service lines within ten years. There are an estimated nine million homes across the country still connected to lead pipes, and the effort ahead is enormous. But for Aqua Pennsylvania, this isn’t new territory — it’s work we’ve already been doing for years.
I lead Aqua Pennsylvania’s Lead Service Line Replacement program. Our team started aggressively working to identify and replace lead and galvanized service lines long before the federal mandate. Our first dedicated effort to remove lead service lines in our distribution system dates back to 2016. We already treat drinking water to prevent lead from leaching into the distribution system, but replacing aging pipes in our service territory is an extra step that greatly reduces risk and ensures long-term protection for our customers.
The task of replacing lead service lines is extensive and can be costly. From surveying and excavation to replacing and repaving, it requires an organized communication effort, along with partnership from customers and communities whose private property needs to be accessed to replace the lines. To ensure the health and safety of residents and meet the EPA’s deadline, we work closely with our customers to coordinate our efforts.
We’re also committed to keeping this work affordable. We consciously balance the need to modernize our infrastructure with the responsibility to keep rates manageable. That’s why we continue to aggressively pursue state funding to offset costs for customers. Since 2021, we’ve been awarded more than $190 million in combined low-interest loans and principal forgiveness loans from PENNVEST for lead service line replacement, PFAS treatment, and other infrastructure improvement projects.
Through alternative funding sources — including PENNVEST low-interest loans and state grant programs — we’ve been able to complete replacements at no direct cost to customers while minimizing the impact on our customers’ monthly bills.
In West Chester, we’ve already replaced hundreds of customer-owned lead and galvanized lines with support from $4.25 million in PENNVEST funding, ensuring safe, modern service for local homes and businesses. In Bucks County, work continues in Bristol Borough and Bristol Township, supported by $1.3 million in PENNVEST low-interest loans and grants. These projects not only remove potential health risks but also strengthen the reliability of local water systems for decades to come.
Over the next decade, replacing remaining lead and galvanized steel service lines across Pennsylvania will take collaboration between water service providers, government agencies, and customers. Aqua Pennsylvania’s team of engineers, scientists, and field crews are in neighborhoods across the state, ensuring that every foot of replaced pipe moves us closer to a future where lead exposure from drinking water is a thing of the past.
As we recognize Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, we’re reminded that clean, safe water doesn’t happen by chance — it happens through planning, sustained investment, and partnership. Aqua Pennsylvania remains committed to doing our part: protecting health, modernizing systems, and securing alternative funding sources to keep this work as affordable as possible.
Learn more about Aqua’s commitment to providing the highest quality water and wastewater services to its communities since beginning in 1886.
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Scott Steffy is a Project Engineer at Aqua Pennsylvania, an Essential Utilities company, and leads the company’s Lead Service Line Replacement Program in Pennsylvania.
