AWWA COMMENT PERIOD ON AWWA C810, Replacement and Flushing of Lead Service Lines

AWWA COMMENT PERIOD ON AWWA C810, Replacement and Flushing of Lead Service Lines
August 8, 2025

AWWA solicits public comments on all proposed new AWWA Standards, and on all proposed revisions, reaffirmations, or withdrawals of existing AWWA Standards. The referenced standards project is being considered for approval and the publication of this notice begins the 45-day public comment period for AWWA and ANSI. An electronic public review copy of the proposed standard can be obtained for review during the comment period by emailing ETS Support (ETSsupport@awwa.org). Comments must be submitted in writing to the AWWA contact listed below no later than the last day of the comment period specified herein. Such comments shall be specific to the section(s) of the standard under review and include sufficient detail, so as to enable the reader to understand the commenter’s position, concerns and suggested alternative language, if appropriate.

AWWA Comment Period closes on September 22, 2025.

Send comments to:
Paul Olson, POlson@awwa.org
303.347.6178 phone

The review copy will be edited for publication and may also be revised as appropriate based on any comments received during the public comment period. Therefore, this copy is not suitable for continued utilization and is intended only for comment purposes.

Final publication of the standard may take several months. When it is available, a notice will be published in the official notice section of Journal – American Water Works Association. The standard becomes an effective AWWA standard on the first day of the month following such publication in Journal – American Water Works Association.

SCOPE
This standard describes essential procedures for the replacement of lead water service lines and flushing following replacement. Essential procedures include the following: appropriate tools and techniques; flushing a service line after replacement; factors to consider in optimizing flushing; and instructions to provide customers affected by the replacement, including additional risk reduction measures and distribution of pitcher point-of-use filter systems. This standard also describes procedures for partial replacement and repair situations where complete lead service line replacement is not possible or practical.

MAJOR REVISIONS
Major revisions made to the standard in this edition include the following:

1. Updated the Acceptance section to include reference to NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 and NSF/ANSI/CAN 600 standards. (Foreword Sec. I.C.)
2. Revised suggested guidance on prioritizing lead service line replacement in the Foreword. (Sec. II.A.)
3. Revised suggested guidance on communication plans to include requirements from the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR). (Sec. II.D.)
4. Added guidance to the Foreword on Chlorine and Chloramine Degradation of Elastomers, Particulate Lead, and Reduction of Lead Exposure. (Sec. II.F, II.G., and II.H.)
5. Revised Figure 1 to better represent typical meter and valve configurations. (Fig. 1)
6. Filters (Sec. 1.1, 4.3.1,
7. Revised the section on Locating lead service lines to include information regarding service line inventories, scrape test requirements, hydro-excavation requirements, and documentation. (Sec. 4.1.1)
8. Added a section on worker safety to the preparation requirements. (Sec. 4.1.2.5)
9. Revised the requirements for disposal of lead service lines and requirements regarding buried lead pipe remnants. (Sec. 4.1.3.3, 4.1.4, and 4.1.5.2)
10. Added a section on replacement service line pipe material. (Sec. 4.1.6)
11. Revised requirements regarding delayed replacements (Sec. 4.2.3)
12. Added requirement for communicating lead test results to customers per LCR. (Sec. 4.3.2)
13. Updated flushing guidance. (Sec. 4.4).
14. Revised the guidance for water test results following replacement. (Sec. 5.2).
15. Added an appendix with example instructions for residents for flushing. (Appendix A)
16. Added an appendix with information regarding supply of a pitcher Point-of-Use (POU) filtration system as a provision within the LCRR and LCRI. (Appendix B)