Lead Service Line Management

AWWA Policy Statement on Lead Service Line Management

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) is committed to protecting public health through the reduction of exposure to lead in drinking water. AWWA encourages communities to develop a lead reduction strategy that includes identifying and removing all lead service lines over time. As part of this effort, water utilities and stakeholders should work collaboratively to expand outreach efforts to alert property owners and consumers in properties with lead service lines about the risks posed by lead and the appropriate steps to reduce those risks. AWWA encourages water providers to maintain optimal corrosion control. These measures are critical steps to ensure all people have access to safe and reliable water, recognizing that as long as there is lead in contact with drinking water, some risks remain.

AWWA supports the U.S. National Drinking Water Advisory Council’s (NDWAC) recommendations to reduce lead in drinking water through the complete removal of lead service lines while ensuring optimal corrosion control measures. Support of the NDWAC recommendations underscores the importance of protecting the public from lead exposure through the development of collaborative community-based approaches to remove all lead service lines in their entirety. Effective lead service line replacement requires solutions that successfully address the often shared ownership of these lines, the associated financial burden, and other barriers and risks posed for individuals and communities as a whole.

Practices specified in this policy statement are consistent with all other pertinent AWWA policy statements.

Adopted by the Board of Directors January 14, 2017.