One consequence of the crisis in Flint, Michigan is that it elevated public awareness that a  substantial number of service lines connecting individual homes and businesses to public water systems may contain lead components. This means that even if the water source and transmission lines do not contain lead, the water could become contaminated prior to consumption. To address this public health issue, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that every Public water system in the country has to develop a service line inventory by October 2024.

OCE has already begun providing services necessary to complete these inventories to current clients, including the Towns of Pittsford and West Rutland. OCE is following a two-phase approach to complete these inventories. In the first phase, OCE conducts an initial data collection from historical sources and then conducts on-site investigations to determine the materials utilized in each service line connection.

With this information, OCE will develop both a Lead Line Service Inventory and, if necessary, a Service Replacement Plan, which will create a road map for any service replacement work required in the future.

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