January 09, 2024
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The Arkansas Department of Health Engineering Section publication Arkansas Drinking Water Update (“Update”) (Volume 37, No. 4) published an article titled:
Service Line Inventory Assistance
The article was contributed by the Arkansas Department of Health Engineering Section Technical Support Chief Teresa S. Lee, P.E.
Ms. Lee states that both the Arkansas Department of Health and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Division have partnered with Horner & Shifrin, Inc. (“H&S”) to provide:
. . . no-cost assistance to small and medium water utilities to assist in developing their service line inventories as required under the federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions.
The article notes 200 water systems have already requested assistance. Any water system serving a population of less than 50,000 is eligible to apply. Application is made through the Natural Resources Division.
The process is summarily described as including:
- H&S gathers all available digital data and reviews available paper records to develop information regarding the water system’s service lines.
- Field technicians go door-to-door to residences to physically inspect water service lines.
- Pipe material is noted and uploaded to a GIS system that will be provided to water systems at the end of the survey.
- A full inventory spreadsheet is created to meet both state and United States Environmental Protection Agency requirements.
Ms. Lee states that assistance is also available to communities in developing a plan to address any lead service lines and seek their replacement.
Information about the service line inventory program or to sign up for assistance can be obtained at https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programs-services/topics/drinking-water-lead-and-copper or QR code.
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