City of Lorain - Lead Service Replacement Program

The City of Lorain Water Distribution Department has an established procedure to investigate, identify, and replace any and all lead service lines (LSL's) discovered within the City of Lorain water distribution system.  An inventory is kept of all known lead service lines within the water distribution system and updated periodically.

Both the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Drinking Water Advisory Council and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have warned that LSL's poses a serious potential hazard.  It has been recommended by regulatory agencies and institutional organizations for utilities to actively work to replace LSL's throughout their system by working with customers.

In 1986, Congress enacted the Safe Drinking Water Act which banned the use of lead as a service pipe material or as a solder for fusing pipes together.  However, the rules allowed for all LSL's already in place to remain.  To combat the threat from lead, the City of Lorain undergoes periodic, regulated testing to ensure lead concentrations found in drinking water throughout the water distribution system do not exceed 12 mg/L, the action level exceedance limit as set by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA).  The City of Lorain has not exceeded the action limit for lead in the last 5 years.

From internal department records, it has been determined that lead was halted from being used as a service line material for the public side in the 1960s.  It should also be known that the most popular private side service line we encounter in the City of Lorain is galvanized steel.  A galvanized steel service line poses a risk if the public side is found to be lead due to the reason that lead particulates can become embedded in portions of the galvanized line and slowly leach out into the drinking water.  The City of Lorain Water Purification Plant combats this by adding an orthophosphate chemical to the treated water before sending out to the water distribution system.  The orthophosphate chemical creates a barrier on the inside of the pipes, wherever water travels, to prevent lead from leaching in the drinking water.  The City of Lorain Water Purification plant has fed orthophosphate since 2010.

To date, the City of Lorain has received nearly $2.5 Million in Principal Forgiveness from the Ohio EPA to remove lead service lines and approximately 1500 lead service lines have been removed through various projects.

 For more clarification on who is responsible for what portion of the water service line entering the property, please go to the page titled, "Know Your Water Service" for a diagram.