Last year the City of Grand Junction Utilities Division began work to meet the requirements of the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce lead in drinking water. The rule requires that water providers, including Grand Junction Water, develop an initial lead service line inventory and then by October 16, 2024, a lead service line replacement plan. Learn more at EngageGJ.org
Last year, city crews began conducting investigations to complete an inventory of lead service lines. Staff have inspected 1,000 service lines and identified 85 lead service lines on the city side of the meter and 47 lead service lines on the customer side of the meter. Based on the draft policy framework issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), service lines located on an additional 1,000 property parcels will need to be inspected.
All service lines within the area between 1st and 19th Streets and North and South Avenues will be inspected based on the older age of the building construction that has the potential for having a lead service line. In addition, a representative number of service lines outside this area with building construction earlier than 1987 will be inspected using the predictive modeling approach stipulated by CDPHE. In 1986, lead pipes were banned in the United States and plumbing materials were required to meet federal “lead-free” specifications, so homes built after 1987 do not have lead pipes and will not be inspected. Review the lead service line inventory on EngageGJ.org.
In addition to completing the inventory, the city will be developing a lead service line replacement plan for submittal to CDPHE by October 16, 2024. While the city is currently only responsible for replacing the city-owned service line between the meter and the main, the city will assist customers with replacement of the customer-owned water line between the meter and the building. The city has purchased specialized equipment that will enable crews to replace the service lines at a reasonable cost to the property owner. Where applicable, service line replacements will be scheduled in coordination with any planned water main replacements to minimize disruptions.
The city conducts water quality monitoring throughout its distribution system and issues an annual Water Quality Report. Lead is one of the parameters that is routinely monitored. The 2022 Water Quality Report demonstrated that the 90th Percentile of all the samples collected was 9.5 parts per billion which is below the regulatory Action Level of 15 parts per billion. The city will continue monitoring for lead per the regulations.
City of Grand Junction water customers can determine the status of service lines on the interactive GIS map by reviewing their property address on the city’s GIS maps. For those residents with Ute conservancy District or Clifton Water District information is available for those services aeras on those websites.