New Leadwater Pipe Detection Technology in Detroit Saves Millions
While drinking water disasters in Flint and Benton Harbor attract national attention, Detroit plans to replace lead water lines with new technology from a Michigan company that the city says will save millions.
DETROIT (FOX 2) – While drinking water disasters in Flint and Benton Harbor attract national attention, Detroit plans to replace lead water lines with new technology from a Michigan company that the city says will save millions.
Palencia Mobley, the assistant division of the Detroit Water Sewerage Department, estimates it could cost around $ 450 million to replace senior service lines in the city. This is money the city doesn’t have, but the work needs to be done.
Michigan’s lead and copper regulations are the toughest in the country, and an estimated 80,000 lead lines in Detroit will need to be replaced by 2040.
The problem is, they don’t know which houses have lead service lines. You have to find out by 2025.
DWSD project manager David Fielder says they should have visually checked every single connection.
“That would have required excavations in the courtyard of every house in the city of Detroit,” said Fielder.
That would have been 300,000 houses to dig up and inspect.
Most cities do not have a good record of what service lines are made up of. In many older homes it could be lead, but it could be copper, or neither, and the only way to find out would be to dig it up.
“That at about $ 500 or $ 600 apiece would have cost the city millions and billions of dollars,” Fielder said.
So the city turns to a Michigan-based company.
Data-driven software development is helping cities determine which homes are most likely to have lead service lines before digging.
The Blue Conduit company was founded by scientists who worked locally during the Flint crisis and are now working in Benton Harbor, Toledo, Ohio, Trenton, New Jersey and dozens of other cities to identify the likelihood of lead lines before the digging begins.
Michael McDaniel, director of government and strategy at Blue Conduit, said it could save the metropolis and has already saved millions for the city of Flint.
“It saves time. It saves millions of dollars. It is estimated that we will save the city of Detroit over $ 150 million and we have saved millions and millions of dollars for the city of Flint,” said McDaniels.
Blue Conduit in Detroit is funded by grants from the State Department for the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, the Kresge Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Detroit residents can also call 313-267-8000 to request a lead and copper test.
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