This and that: Of lead pipes and parking meters

Lafayette prepares first round of lead and galvanized water line removal. WL tells Purdue parking meter plan will be a slow rollout. Plus, a Delphi murder trial update.

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Some this and that for a Wednesday morning …

FIRST PHASE IN LAFAYETTE LEAD WATER SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT ABOUT TO START

The first piece of a city project that eventually will replace 3,200 lead or galvanized water service lines in the oldest parts of Lafayette is expected to start late this year or early 2025, according to action taken Tuesday at city hall.

The Lafayette board of works on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to request bids on the first phase of a federally mandated project that is expected to take six or seven years. Steve Moore, the city’s water works superintendent, said the project is expected to start in December or January and take 240 days.

Work on the first phase expected to replace complete lead or galvanized water lines leading to city utilities for 688 city customers, along with replacements on the customer’s side only for 37 properties and installation of 142 replacements on the utility side of the water lines.

(Photo: Unsplash)

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden announced a 10-year deadline to replace all lead pipes in the United States as part of a new EPA rule. That announcement came with $2.6 billion in federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. Lead pipes can corrode and contaminate drinking water, causing a range of disorders, from behavioral problems and brain damage to low birth weight to heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Indiana Finance Authority had already set a deadline for lead service line inventory plans for October 2024 to check utilities. Moore said the city has that finished and ready to do the work in stages.

Moore said tests in the past year showed where lines include lead or galvanized lines, either at the street, entering the home or both. He said the city went into the project estimating that it would find closer to 6,000 lines to replace, rather than 3,200. Moore said the use of lead and galvanized water service lines was most common in older neighborhoods.